There are times polar bodies are claimed to be "egg cells", or "gametes", albeit, "non-functional", or "immature" ones:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_body#Twinning> "Polar bodies were characterized in the early 20th century, by O. Hertwig, T. Boveri, and E.L. Mark, as non-functioning egg cells which disintegrated because the spermatozoon, with rare exceptions, could not fertilize them and instead chemically triggered their dissolution"
I recall a heated conversation I had with someone who claimed "even if polar bodies and egg cells are different doesn't mean polar bodies are not egg cells" ... The conversation went around in circles.
Are there any differences between polar bodies and egg cells? Any differences besides lack of cytoplasm? Would the lack of cytoplasm in polar bodies be sufficient to place polar bodies in a category separate from egg cells?
Contrary to the belief that "polar bodies are egg cells", if polar bodies and egg cells are different in some ways, would it be correct not to consider polar bodies egg cells or gametes? Neither mature nor immature egg cells. If there are differences between polar bodies and egg cells, it would be flawed to ignore the differences and place polar bodies in the same category as that of egg cells and call them egg cells, even if polar bodies come from oocytes. Things with similar origins that have differences between them are not the same as each other ... in my view.
Would the following description of polar bodies be correct?: "A polar body is a small haploid cell that is formed at the same time as an egg cell during oogenesis", but is not itself an egg cell
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