We all know that when a sperm enters an egg, a zygote is created, and the creation of a fetus begins. But what is that sperm’s journey really like, and does sperm have an overall strategy? Trace did some digging and found out just how real the sperm struggle really is.
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Males Have Adapted To Battle With Competing Sperm
“In the context of sexual reproduction, natural selection is generally thought of as a pre-copulation mechanism.”
Adaptation to Sperm Competition in Humans
“With the recognition, afforded by recent evolutionary science, that female infidelity was a recurrent feature of modern humans’ evolutionary history has come the development of a unique area in the study of human mating: sperm competition.”
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SPERM LENGTH AND SPEED DIFFER AMONG THREE INTERNALLY AND THREE EXTERNALLY FERTILIZING SPECIES
“It is often assumed that longer sperm, by virtue of their increased swimming speed, have a fertilization advantage over shorter sperm when in competition to fertilize eggs.”
Sperm Wars
“As was noted in the previous section, although a dominant chimpanzee may not try to monopolize time with a female in estrous, most of the competition in this species is carried out at the level of the sperm.”
Sperm Competition Games: Optimal Sperm Allocation In Response To The Size Of Competing Ejaculates
“Sperm competition theory predicts that when males are certain of sperm competition, they should decrease sperm investment in matings with an increasing number of competing ejaculates.”
Kamikaze Sperms or Flawed Products?
“Astoundingly, the average human ejaculate contains about 250 million sperms.”
Big Sperm Don’t Always Win The Race
“When females mate with more than one male, each one’s sperm has to compete to get to her eggs.”
The “Kamikaze Sperm” Hypothesis
“In 1988 Baker and Bellis first proposed the ‘Kamikaze sperm’ hypothesis.”
Sperm Competition in Humans: Implications for Male Sexual Psychology, Physiology Anatomy, and Behavior
“With the recognition afforded by evolutionary science that female infidelity was a recurrent feature of our evolutionary past has come the development of a new area of study within human mating: sperm competition.”
Bonobos Join Chimps as Closest Human Relatives
“Chimpanzees now have to share the distinction of being our closest living relative in the animal kingdom.”
Watch More:
Is Sperm a Superfood?
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Wear Kilts, Make Babies
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