hindgut
Noun: 1. The caudal (posterior) part of the alimentary canal in vertebrate embryos: In embryology, the hindgut is the posterior section of the developing digestive tract. It gives rise to structures including the distal third of the transverse colon, the descending colon, the sigmoid colon, the rectum, and the upper part of the anal canal.
The term is used almost exclusively in biological, medical, and embryological contexts to describe a specific anatomical region during development. - The hindgut is derived from the endodermal layer of the embryo. - During development, the hindgut elongates to form the large intestine.
- In human embryology, the cloaca is a cavity at the terminal end of the hindgut.
- The blood supply to the structures derived from the hindgut is primarily from the inferior mesenteric artery.
- Researchers studied the gene expression patterns in the hindgut of the chick embryo.
- Hindgut fermentation: A digestive process seen in some herbivorous mammals (like horses and rabbits) where microbial fermentation of plant material occurs in the cecum and colon, which are derivatives of the embryonic hindgut.
- Horses are hindgut fermenters, relying on microbes in their large intestine to break down cellulose.
- Foregut (noun): The anterior part of the alimentary canal, developing into structures like the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum.
- Midgut (noun): The middle part of the alimentary canal, developing into most of the small intestine and part of the large intestine.
- Cloaca (noun): A common chamber in vertebrate embryos (and some adult animals) into which the hindgut and the urinary and genital ducts open.
- Posterior intestine (embryological context)
- Caudal gut (embryological context)
The term "hindgut" has a very specific and technical meaning in embryology and comparative anatomy. It is not used in general conversation. In adult anatomy, the structures are referred to by their specific names (e.g., colon, rectum), not collectively as the "hindgut," except in specific comparative or physiological contexts (e.g., hindgut fermenter).
- the caudal part of the alimentary canal in vertebrate embryos