While I was studying the reproductive system, the question popped up in my mind. Each testicle has lobules formed out of the tunica albuginea, in which there exist seminiferous tubules. Why is the testicle divided in these lobules? What's the point? Why isn't it one single big cavity?
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$\begingroup$ No. Each testicle has lobules formed out of the tunica albuginea, in which there exist seminiferous tubules. My question is why the testicle is divided in these lobules, rather than just being one big cavity. I'll update the question to include this explanation. $\endgroup$– ixjfJan 6, 2018 at 14:39
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The structure of the testes as with many other organs in living things has all to do with form, function, and efficiency. The testes are extremely efficient sperm producers, with on average 1,500 sperm cells being produced per minute in the average human male. If the testes were just an open space of fluid with free-floating sperm producing germ cells, it would not be as nearly an efficient design, not to mention the waste caused by an inability to sort through sperm producing cells and the cells they produced.
According to this site, each lobule in the testes contains about 1-4 seminiferous tubules, each an average of 50 cm in length. Like many structures in the human body, intestinal walls, nephrons in kidneys, etc, the complex structures and organization of the cells that have a specialized function involves increasing access to the inputs and outputs of their function and increased surface area to increase that function.
This site has a helpful graphic showing the structure of the seminiferous tubules that are wrapped up in each lobule. The germ cells which split and create sperm cells are lined along the wall and when the new sperm cell they produce have developed enough, the sperm cell is released to be moved through the tubule where it can be prepared and developed further. This complex structure allows for uniform, controlled, and efficient production of sperm, essentially, a sperm factory running with an assembly line, and is a design that nature has kept and improved upon for millions of years.
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$\begingroup$ Thank you for your answer. However, most of it is offtopic and doesn't really answer what I was asking. Can you back the idea that lobules make for a more efficient design? I can't find anything on the internet. $\endgroup$– ixjfJan 8, 2018 at 9:57