a. 1. Ovaries are the female gonads the primary female reproductive organs. These glands have three important functions: they secrete hormones, they protect the eggs a female is born with and they release eggs for possible fertilization.

2.The Oviduct is the tube that links theovaryto theuterusand which the ovulated oocyte travels down to become fertilised by sperm present in the female tract. It is also refered to as theFallopian tube, Uterine tube or Ovarian tube.

3.Functions of the uterusincludenurturing the fertilized ovum that develops into the fetus and holding it till the baby is mature enough for birth. The ferlized ovum gets implanted into the endometrium and derives nourishment from blood vessels which develop exclusively for thispurpose.

theplacentais thecomposite structure of embryonic and maternal tissues that supplies nutrients to the developing embryo. The placenta is a unique organ, found only in mammals, that allows the mother to provide a very large amount of nutrients to her offspring for an extended period of time before they are even born.

The placenta serves as an interface between the mother and the developing fetus and has three main jobs:

Attach the fetus to the uterine wall

Provide nutrients to the fetus

Allow the fetus to transfer waste products to the mother's blood

The placenta is composed of both maternal tissue and tissue derived from the embryo. Thechorionisthe embryonic-derived portion of the placenta. It is composed of trophoblasts, which you may remember are the cells that made up the outer cell layer of the blastocyst. You may also remember that during implantation the trophoblasts multiply in number and extend into the uterine wall. They eventually form finger-like structures calledchorionic villi, which arefinger-like structures of the placenta composed of embryo-derived trophoblasts. The chorionic villi are surrounded by maternal blood which comes into direct contact with the embryonic trophoblast cells. Theintervillous spaceisthe part of the placenta that surrounds the chorionic villi and contains maternal blood.