Sex organ
Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting gametes, as well as facilitating fertilization and supporting the development and birth of offspring.
[3] Female reproductive structures, such as pistils in flowering plants, produce ovules and receive pollen for fertilization.
[6] Coniferous plants likewise produce their sexually reproductive structures within the gametophytes contained within the cones and pollen.
[8] As primary sex organs, gonads generate reproductive gametes containing inheritable DNA.
The Latin term genitalia, sometimes anglicized as genitals, is used to describe the externally visible sex organs.
[14] Male and female genitals have many nerve endings, resulting in pleasurable and highly sensitive touch.
The development of the internal and external reproductive organs is determined by hormones produced by certain fetal gonads (ovaries or testicles) and the cells' response to them.
If the fetus has testes and the testes produce testosterone, and if the cells of the genitals respond to the testosterone, the outer urogenital folds swell and fuse in the midline to produce the scrotum; the protuberance grows larger and straighter to form the penis; the inner urogenital swellings grow, wrap around the penis, and fuse in the midline to form the penile raphe.
Because of the strong sexual selection affecting the structure and function of genitalia, they form an organ system that evolves rapidly.
In many other vertebrates, a single posterior orifice (the cloaca) serves as the only opening for the reproductive, digestive, and urinary tracts (if present) in both sexes.
Sexing teleost fish is determined by the shape of a fleshy tube behind the anus known as genital papilla.
The organs concerned with insect mating and the deposition of eggs are known collectively as the external genitalia, although they may be largely internal; their components are very diverse in form.
[24] The life cycle of land plants involves alternation of generations between a sporophyte and a haploid gametophyte.
Pollen is produced in stamens and is carried to the pistil or carpel, which has the ovule at its base where fertilization can take place.
