The morphology of the squirrel spermatozoon: A highly complex male gamete with a massive acrosome

Abstract

This study describes the morphology of the spermatozoon from the cauda epididymidis of representative members of two squirrel subfamilies, the Sciurinae and Callosciurinae, as determined by fluorescent, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. All species examined possess a massive apical segment of the sperm acrosome. It varied markedly in the extent of its caudal flexion but was always much larger, and more complex, than that of the spermatozoon of most other rodents so far documented, although somewhat similar to that of some hystricomorph species. Because this sperm form appears to be present within at least two of the three major living clades of Rodentia, it is possible that it is the ancestral condition within this mammalian order.