Preferred Label : caecum;
Uberon definition : A pouch in the digestive tract that connects the ileum with the ascending colon of
the large intestine. It is separated from the ileum by the ileocecal valve, and is
the beginning of the large intestine. It is also separated from the colon by the cecocolic
junction.;
Uberon synonym : intestinum crassum caecum; cecum;
Uberon related term : intestinum caecum; blindgut; blind intestine; intestinum crassum cecum;
Uberon narrow term : ceca; caeca;
Uberon Taxon note : A cecum is present in most amniote species, and also in lungfish, but not in any living
species of amphibian. In reptiles, it is usually a single median structure, arising
from the dorsal side of the large intestine. Birds typically have two paired ceca,
as, unlike other mammals, do hyraxes. Most mammalian herbivores have a relatively
large cecum, hosting a large number of bacteria, which aid in the enzymatic breakdown
of plant materials such as cellulose; in many species, it is considerably wider than
the colon. In contrast, obligatory carnivores, whose diets contain little or no plant
material, have a reduced cecum, which is often partially or wholly replaced by the
vermiform appendix. Many fish have a number of small outpocketings, called pyloric
ceca, along their intestine; despite the name they are not homologous with the cecum
of amniotes, and their purpose is to increase the overall area of the digestive epithelium.[2]
Some invertebrates, such as squid,[3] may also have structures with the same name,
but these have no relationship with those of vertebrates.;
Origin ID : 0001153;
UMLS CUI : C0007531;
Automatic exact mappings (from CISMeF team)
- Caecum [ICD-11 Extension code]
- Semantic type(s)
- UMLS correspondences (same concept)
- Uberon cross reference
- continuous with
- contributes to morphology of
- develops from
- has part
- part of
A pouch in the digestive tract that connects the ileum with the ascending colon of
the large intestine. It is separated from the ileum by the ileocecal valve, and is
the beginning of the large intestine. It is also separated from the colon by the cecocolic
junction.
