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Most species of snakes show no sexual dimorphism and other methods are necessary to differentiate between males and females.

Most species of snakes show no sexual dimorphism and other methods are necessary to differentiate between males and females.

[[Image:Wn_plains_garter_snake_eggs_+_ovary.jpg|250px|thumb|right|'''[[Garter Snake|Garter snake]] ovary and eggs''' - ©RVC and its licensors, Peer Zwart and Fredric Frye. All rights reserved.]]

[[Image:Wn_plains_garter_snake_eggs_+_ovary.jpg|250px|thumb|right|'''[[Garter Snake|Garter snake]] ovary and eggs''' - (Copyright © RVC)]]

==Ovaries==

==Ovaries==

The reptilian ovary consists of follicular cells, epithelial and endothelial cells, nerve tissue and connective tissue in an elastic tunic. The ovaries of snakes are elongate and are located near the pancreas/spleen/gall bladder, cranial to the kidneys. The right ovary is cranial to the left but may overlap. Both ovaries are present.  Some fossorial species have lost one ovary and oviduct.

The reptilian ovary consists of follicular cells, epithelial and endothelial cells, nerve tissue and connective tissue in an elastic tunic. The ovaries of snakes are elongate and are located near the pancreas/spleen/gall bladder, cranial to the kidneys. The right ovary is cranial to the left but may overlap. Both ovaries are present.  Some fossorial species have lost one ovary and oviduct.

==Oviducts==

==Oviducts==

[[Image:Burmese_python_Ovaries.jpg|250px|thumb|right|'''[[Burmese Python]]''' ovaries - ©RVC and its licensors, Peer Zwart and Fredric Frye. All rights reserved.]]

[[Image:Burmese_python_Ovaries.jpg|250px|thumb|right|'''[[Burmese Python]]''' ovaries - (Copyright © RVC)]]

The oviduct is divided into infundibulum, magnum (secretes albumin), “uterus” (secretes membrane and in some species of viviparous snakes serves for placentation) and vagina. There is a region of mucosal folds and alveolar glands in the cranial oviduct, the receptaculum seminis, that serves for sperm storage allowing continued fertility from one insemination. The oviducts empty into the urodeum through the urogenital papillae. The developing embryos or eggs in the right side are carried anterior to those on the left. The left oviduct may be lacking in some [[Snake Taxonomy|taxa]] of snakes including Typhlopidae.

The oviduct is divided into infundibulum, magnum (secretes albumin), “uterus” (secretes membrane and in some species of viviparous snakes serves for placentation) and vagina. There is a region of mucosal folds and alveolar glands in the cranial oviduct, the receptaculum seminis, that serves for sperm storage allowing continued fertility from one insemination. The oviducts empty into the urodeum through the urogenital papillae. The developing embryos or eggs in the right side are carried anterior to those on the left. The left oviduct may be lacking in some [[Snake Taxonomy|taxa]] of snakes including Typhlopidae.