A motile male gamete or sperm cell produced within antheridia in mosses, liverworts, ferns, and algae.
From 'anthera' (anther) + Greek 'zoon' (animal) + '-oid' (resembling). Coined in the 1800s when scientists first observed these swimming cells under microscopes and noted their animal-like movement.
Antherozoids literally means 'anther-animals' because they move around with a tail like tiny animals—they're one of nature's strangest cells, living proof that plant reproduction can be just as wild as animal reproduction.
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