Terminology Service for NFDI4Health
caecum
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http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/UBERON_0001153
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. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecum ]
Term info
Label
caecum
Synonyms
- caecum
- cecum
- intestinum crassum caecum
Subsets
uberon_slim, efo_slim, pheno_slim, human_reference_atlas
RO 0002175
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NCBITaxon_9606
comment
Taxon notes: in some herbivorous lizards, a cecum is present between small and large intestines[Kardong]
depicted by
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Stomach_colon_rectum_diagram.svg
has narrow synonym
caeca, ceca
has obo namespace
uberon
has related synonym
intestinum caecum, blind intestine, intestinum crassum cecum, blindgut
has relational adjective
caecal
id
UBERON:0001153
never in taxon
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NCBITaxon_32443
taxon notes
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.