Ovulation may be the process in a female's menstrual cycle by which an adult ovarian follicle ruptures and discharges an ovum (also known as an oocyte, feminine gamete, and also casually, an egg). Ovulation also occurs inside estrous period of many other female mammals, which differs in lots of fundamental ways in the menstrual period. The time immediately surrounding ovulation is known as the ovulatory stage or the periovulatory period.
