ABSTRACT
This chapter is intended to cover morphological data on the testis, spermatogenesis, ultrastructure of spermiogenesis, and the mature spermatozoon in snakes. Though it would be an immense task in almost all other major vertebrate clades, snakes have largely been ignored in terms of testicular architecture, detailed morphological data on the germ cell development strategy during spermatogenesis, and the ultrastructure during spermatogenesis and/or of the sperm. Most of the recent data (last 10 years) on the testis/spermatogenesis in snakes have focused on reproductive cycles or in some cases the ultrastructure of specific parts of the testis, spermatogenesis, or the mature sperm. In the last 15 years, there has been an effort to provide ultrastructural information for the spermatozoon in several species of snakes, which has led to preliminary constructions of phylogenetic relationships between certain families within the Ophidia (Jamieson 1995; Oliver et al. 1996; Tavares-Bastos et al. 2008).
