Hi!
I am doing an animation about the part where sperm is made and reached to egg cell on the example of lynx.
Lynx has often more than one cubs. What kind on fertilisation is more common when there is three cubs as final product?
- one egg cell is fertilised by one sperm and sygote develops into three sygotes
- two egg cells are fertilised in different ends of uterus and one of them develops into two sygotes
Or can there be more than two egg cells in uterus at same time?
In lower order animals that can have multiple litter/cubs, a number of possibilities exist.
1. More than one egg is often released to be fertilized individually and the zygotes get implanted in the womb
2. One of such fertilized eggs during the process of development could split in two and could result in a case of one zygote resulting in two cubs.
Hi agree with Michael.
Just to add: number 1/ case is way more frequent, so if you want to prepare animation I would use several eggs and sperms.
Moreover, the eggs are fertilized in oviduct and afterwards the embryos migrate to uterus and undergo nidation. So the answer to your question is YES, there can be more than two embryos in uterus at the same time.
Hope this helps.
Jiri
I did not understand. You say no1. ( one egg cell is fertilised by one sperm and sygote develops into three sygotes ) is more frequent.
And next you suggest to use several eggs wich is no2.
Maybe I did not make myself clear enough. Sorry fot that.
The numbers 1/ and 2/ belong to Michales answer.
It means that: " 1. More than one egg is often released to be fertilized individually and the zygotes get implanted in the womb".
i.e. generally there are several cubs born, each with different genome (they are not twins, triplets, ets.)
Michale also writes that the other possibility is to produce twins, triplets, etc. (this is answer nr. "2"). I just wanted to add to this that this is quite rare compared to process nr. "1."
So if you want to make an animation, you should do it in the way that there are several eggs released from ovary and each egg is fertilized by one sperm. Than the development of these zygotes continue in oviduct and afterwards in uterus.
Regards,
Jiri
Do you happen to know if there is a process of sperm collection in female lynx? Is it so that many males copulate and there is "locking system" that force the different males sperm to stop somewhere and then in one time releases the sperm to fertilise?
I found this on http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lynx_lynx/
"Eurasian lynx mating season takes place from February to April of each year. Each female is fertile only about three days during this time. Once a male and receptive female encounter each other, they follow each other for days, copulating many times a day. Once the female is no longer in estrus, the male will leave to find another mate. Females have only one mate per season. ("Eurasian Lynx Online Information System for Europe", 2007; Nowell and Jackson, 1996)"
Nowell, K., P. Jackson. 1996. Wild Cats: Status survey and conservation action plan. Cambridge, U.K.: IUCN: The Burlington Press.
Therefore I guess there is no strategy like you describe in your question...
Jiri
Hi,
I agree with Michael and Jiri on your first question. In animals with multiple offspring, there are usually multiple oocytes released per estrus.
I also agree with Jiri on your second question. I don't think there is a "locking system" involved, but rather that the multiple copulation during estrus is for increasing the chances of fertilization through increased amount of (fresh) semen. So Mother Nature wanted to make sure that whenever the female ovulates, there are always some fit sperm ready to do their job. After all, if this species has only one estrus per season, they better not waste it...
Regards
But some animals do have something like "locking the sperm before its getting to egg cells"?
Yes. This phenomenon apparently occurs in some animals, particularly reptiles and viviparous fish, but also birds and mamals.
I recommend you to read an interesting article written by Prof. William V. Holt and Prof. Alireza Fazeli on this topic:
Article Sperm Storage in the Female Reproductive Tract
Regards