Chelonian Reproduction - Anatomy & Physiology

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Male

Testes

• Long, yellow and oval in shape.
• Attached to the cranioventral pole of the kidneys.
• Ductus deferens runs alongside ureters to the cloaca.

Phallus

• Ventral proctodeum is modified and thickened into a single phallus.
• Two pairs of fibrous tissue separated by a central trough.
• Cannot be inverted (unlike lizards and snakes).
• Highly vascular.
• When inserted into the female cloaca it becomes engorged.
• Semen is conveyed through the central sulcus.
• A retractor muscle returns the phallus back into the cloaca.

Female

Ovary

• Paired ovaries lie symmetrically, cranial to the kidneys.
• Irregular, sac-like.
• Different sized ova that become prominent with mature follicles.

Sperm Storage in the Female Tract

• Females in some species can retain sperm in their uterus.
• Can successfully fertilize two or more clutches, often several years after copulation.