Assistant Professor of Biology Ariel Kahrl and collaborators from Trinity University published a new article in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society titled “The evolution of testis architecture and sperm size in Anolis lizards.” Sperm is one of the most diverse cell types in animals. Some of the factors that shape diversification are well known, but others are not.
In this paper, Kahrl and co-authors examine how testes morphology impacts sperm size to understand the process of diversification of sperm across 20 species of lizards. They found that sperm had longer flagella in species with larger seminiferous tubules (found within the testes). Typically, larger animals and species with high rates of multiple mating have larger testes. This suggests that many factors may influence sperm size and shape.
