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My understanding (I'm a doctor but NOT an expert in this area) is that it usually is a long, difficult journey to the egg, and the chance of many getting there at exactly the same time is low. When a spermatozoan buries into the egg a reaction is caused which prevents other sperm from being able to penetrate.

An expert may be able to clarify, but I think this is the gist of it.




It's called the cortical reaction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortical_reaction


> When a spermatozoan buries into the egg a reaction is caused which prevents other sperm from being able to penetrate.

This is an explanation I was looking for. Thanks.


I thought that was general knowledge. It certainly was part of the sexual education I got at school.


Sometimes, after many years, some people forget some of the irrelevant details of their education.

Do you remember all the steps in the ATP cycle?


"Not so irrelevant now is it"

Your teacher, maybe.


same here.. unfortunately we can't assume reproduction was a fairly covered topic at schools across the US however.




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