Canadian Medical Guide > Anatomy > Animal Structures Terms and Definitions




Animal Structures

Medical Definition: Organs and other anatomical structures of non-human vertebrate and invertebrate animals.
Guide Notes: avoid: too general; prefer specifics
Also Called: Animal Organs
Previously Indexed: Animals/anatomy & histology (1966-1997),specific animal/anatomy & histology (1966-1997)
Animal Structures Categories.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Air Sacs - Thin-walled sacs or spaces which function as a part of the respiratory system in birds, fishes, insects, and mammals.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Anal Sacs - A pair of anal glands or sacs, located on either side of the ANUS, that produce and store a dark, foul-smelling fluid in carnivorous animals such as SKUNKS and DOGS. The expelled fluid is used as a defensive repellent (in skunks) or a material to mark territory (in dogs).
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Beak - In some animals, the jaws together with their horny covering. The beak usually refers to the bill of birds in which the whole varies greatly in form according of the food and habits of the bird. While the beak refers most commonly to birds, the anatomical counterpart is found also in the turtle, squid, and octopus. (From Webster, 3d ed & Storer, et al., General Zoology, 6th ed, p491, 755)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Cloaca - The common chamber into which the intestinal, urinary and genital tracts discharge in birds, reptiles, amphibians and many fishes; also a phylogenetically related embryonic structure in mammals.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Comb and Wattles
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Crop, Avian
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Egg Shell
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Electric Organ - In about 250 species of electric fishes, modified muscle fibers forming disklike multinucleate plates arranged in stacks like batteries in series and embedded in a gelatinous matrix. A large torpedo ray may have half a million plates. Muscles in different parts of the body may be modified, i.e., the trunk and tail in the electric eel, the hyobranchial apparatus in the electric ray, and extrinsic eye muscles in the stargazers. Powerful electric organs emit pulses in brief bursts several times a second. They serve to stun prey and ward off predators. A large torpedo ray can produce of shock of more than 200 volts, capable of stunning a human. (Storer et al., General Zoology, 6th ed, p672)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Embryo, Nonmammalian - The embryo of species other than mammals. For the chicken, use the specific CHICK EMBRYO.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Fat Body - A nutritional reservoir of fatty tissue found mainly in insects and amphibians.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Feathers
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Forelimb - A front limb of a quadruped. (The Random House College Dictionary, 1980)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Gills
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Harderian Gland - A sebaceous gland that, in some animals, acts as an accessory to the lacrimal gland. The harderian gland excretes fluid that facilitates movement of the third eyelid.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Hemolymph - The blood/lymphlike nutrient fluid of some invertebrates.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Hepatopancreas - A primitive form of digestive gland found in marine ARTHROPODS, that contains cells similar to those found in the mammalian liver (HEPATOCYTES), and the PANCREAS.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Hindlimb - Either of two extremities of four-footed non-primate land animals. It usually consists of a FEMUR, TIBIA and FIBULA, tarsals, METATARSALS, and TOES. (From Storer et al., General Zoology, 6th ed, p73)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Hoof and Claw
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Horns
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Interrenal Gland - Structures in fishes homologous to the cortical tissue of the mammalian adrenal gland; they are in close proximity to or imbedded in the kidney.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Malpighian Tubules - Slender tubular or hairlike excretory structures found in insects. They emerge from the ALIMENTARY CANAL between the mesenteron (midgut) and the proctodeum (hindgut).
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Metrial Gland - Collection of granular epithelial cells in the uterine muscle beneath the placenta that develop during pregnancy in certain species of animals.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Mushroom Bodies - Prominent lobed neuropils found in ANNELIDA and all ARTHROPODS except crustaceans. They are thought to be involved in olfactory learning and memory.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Nictitating Membrane - A fold of the mucous membrane of the CONJUNCTIVA in many animals. At rest, it is hidden in the medial canthus. It can extend to cover part or all of the cornea to help clean the CORNEA.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Optic Lobe - In invertebrate zoology, a lateral lobe of the FOREBRAIN in certain ARTHROPODS. In vertebrate zoology, either of the corpora bigemina of non-mammalian VERTEBRATES. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1329)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Oviducts - Ducts that serve exclusively for the passage of eggs from the ovaries to the exterior of the body. In non-mammals, they are termed oviducts. In mammals, they are highly specialized and known as FALLOPIAN TUBES.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Perianal Glands
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Salt Gland - A compound tubular gland, located around the eyes and nasal passages in marine animals and birds, the physiology of which figures in water-electrolyte balance. The Pekin duck serves as a common research animal in salt gland studies. A rectal gland or rectal salt gland in the dogfish shark is attached at the junction of the intestine and cloaca and aids the kidneys in removing excess salts from the blood. (Storer, Usinger, Stebbins & Nybakken: General Zoology, 6th ed, p658)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Scent Glands - Exocrine glands in animals which secrete scents which either repel or attract other animals, e.g. perianal glands of skunks, anal glands of weasels, musk glands of foxes, ventral glands of wood rats, and dorsal glands of peccaries.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Stomach, Avian
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Stomach, Ruminant
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Tail
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Ultimobranchial Body - A diverticulum from the fourth pharyngeal pouch of an embryo, regarded by some as a rudimentary fifth pharyngeal pouch and by others as a lateral thyroid primordium. The ultimobranchial bodies of lower vertebrates contain large amounts of calcitonin. In mammals the bodies fuse with the thyroid gland and are thought to develop into the parafollicular cells. (Stedman, 25th ed)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Vibrissae - Stiff hairs projecting from the face around the nose of most mammals, acting as touch receptors.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Wool

Animal Structures Medical Definitions and Terms

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