Publication at Faculty of Science |
2011
Abstract
Sperm apical hooks in murine rodents play an important role in sperm competition. Apical hooks are more curved and longer in species with relatively larger testes, that is in species with a higher risk of sperm competition.
In this paper, we have demonstrated that apical hook curvatures of field mice (A. agrarius and A. sylvaticus) vary significantly between dormant and active sperm. The length and flexibility of the sperm apical hooks are important for the formation of sperm aggregations, thus these sperm characters indicate the risk of sperm competition and the sperm strategies in murine rodents.