The mouth is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and vocalize . The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or cavum oris in Latin ), is also the first part of the alimentary canal , which leads to the pharynx and the gullet . In tetrapod vertebrates , the mouth is bounded on the outside by the lips and cheeks — thus the oral cavity is also known as the buccal cavity (from Latin bucca , meaning "cheek") — and contains the tongue on the inside. Except for some groups like birds and lissamphibians , vertebrates usually have teeth in their mouths, although some fish species have pharyngeal teeth instead of oral teeth.
41-398: Most bilaterian phyla , including arthropods , molluscs and chordates , have a two-opening gut tube with a mouth at one end and an anus at the other. Which end forms first in ontogeny is a criterion used to classify bilaterian animals into protostomes and deuterostomes . In the first multicellular animals , there was probably no mouth or gut and food particles were engulfed by
82-446: A head (anterior) end and a tail (posterior) end as well as a back (dorsal) and a belly (ventral); therefore they also have a left side and a right side. Having a front end means that this part of the body encounters stimuli, such as food, favouring cephalisation , the development of a head with sense organs and a mouth. The body stretches back from the head, and many bilaterians have a combination of circular muscles that constrict
123-425: A left and a right side that are mirror images of each other) during embryonic development . This means their body plans are laid around a longitudinal axis ( rostral – caudal axis) with a front (or "head") and a rear (or "tail") end, as well as a left–right–symmetrical belly ( ventral ) and back ( dorsal ) surface. Nearly all bilaterians maintain a bilaterally symmetrical body as adults; the most notable exception
164-439: A mouth and a gut, the lining of which is continuous with the epithelial cells on the surface of the body. A few animals which live parasitically originally had guts but have secondarily lost these structures. The original gut of diploblastic animals probably consisted of a mouth and a one-way gut. Some modern invertebrates still have such a system: food being ingested through the mouth, partially broken down by enzymes secreted in
205-405: A nasofrontal hinge allowing the beak to open wider than would otherwise be possible. The exterior surface of beaks is composed of a thin, horny sheath of keratin . Nectar feeders such as hummingbirds have specially adapted brushy tongues for sucking up nectar from flowers. In mammals, the buccal cavity is typically roofed by the hard and soft palates , floored by the tongue and surrounded by
246-593: A set of five sharp calcareous plates, which are used as jaws and are known as Aristotle's lantern . In vertebrates, the first part of the digestive system is the buccal cavity , commonly known as the mouth. The buccal cavity of a fish is separated from the opercular cavity by the gills . Water flows in through the mouth, passes over the gills and exits via the operculum or gill slits . Nearly all fish have jaws and may seize food with them but most feed by opening their jaws, expanding their pharynx and sucking in food items. The food may be held or chewed by teeth located in
287-414: Is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills ; it is also used for respiration and feeding. The opercular series contains four bone segments known as the preoperculum, suboperculum, interoperculum and operculum. The preoperculum is a crescent-shaped structure that has a series of ridges directed posterodorsally to
328-406: Is lined with gastrodermal cells. In less advanced invertebrates such as the sea anemone , the mouth also acts as an anus. Circular muscles around the mouth are able to relax or contract in order to open or close it. A fringe of tentacles thrusts food into the cavity and it can gape widely enough to accommodate large prey items. Food passes first into a pharynx and digestion occurs extracellularly in
369-467: Is located directly above the gills. The interoperculum is triangular shaped and borders the suboperculum posterodorsally and the preoperculum anterodorsally. This bone is also known to be short on the dorsal and ventral surrounding borders. During development the opercular series is known to be one of the first bone structures to form. In the three-spined stickleback the opercular series is seen forming at around seven days after fertilization. Within hours
410-597: Is termed the " Urbilaterian ". The nature of the first bilaterian is a matter of debate. One side suggests that acoelomates gave rise to the other groups (planuloid–aceloid hypothesis by Ludwig von Graff , Elie Metchnikoff , Libbie Hyman , or Luitfried von Salvini-Plawen [ nl ] ), while the other poses that the first bilaterian was a coelomate organism and the main acoelomate phyla ( flatworms and gastrotrichs ) have lost body cavities secondarily (the Archicoelomata hypothesis and its variations such as
451-778: Is that the Ambulacraria are sister to Xenacoelomorpha together forming the Xenambulacraria . The Xenambulacraria may be sister to the Chordata or to the Centroneuralia (corresponding to Nephrozoa without Ambulacraria, or to Chordata + Protostomia). The phylogenetic tree shown below depicts the latter proposal. Also, the validity of Deuterostomia (without Protostomia emerging from it) is under discussion. The cladogram indicates approximately when some clades radiated into newer clades, in millions of years ago (Mya). While
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#1732765973313492-555: Is the echinoderms , which extend to pentaradial symmetry as adults, but are only bilaterally symmetrical as an embryo . Cephalization is also a characteristic feature among most bilaterians, where the special sense organs and central nerve ganglia become concentrated at the front/rostral end. Bilaterians constitute one of the five main metazoan lineages, the other four being Porifera ( sponges ), Cnidaria ( jellyfish , hydrae , sea anemones and corals ), Ctenophora ( comb jellies ) and Placozoa (tiny "flat animals"). For
533-416: The blastocoel , as pseudocoeloms ) or secondary cavities (that appear de novo , for example the coelom ). Some of the earliest bilaterians were wormlike, and a bilaterian body can be conceptualized as a cylinder with a gut running between two openings, the mouth and the anus. Around the gut it has an internal body cavity, a coelom or pseudocoelom. Animals with this bilaterally symmetric body plan have
574-465: The cheeks , salivary glands , and upper and lower teeth . The upper teeth are embedded in the upper jaw and the lower teeth in the lower jaw , which articulates with the temporal bones of the skull . The lips are soft and fleshy folds which shape the entrance into the mouth. The buccal cavity empties through the pharynx into the oesophagus . Crocodilians living in the tropics can gape with their mouths to provide cooling by evaporation from
615-450: The echinoderms , hemichordates , chordates , and the extinct Vetulicolia . The protostomes include most of the rest, such as arthropods , annelids , mollusks , flatworms , and so forth. There are several differences, most notably in how the embryo develops. In particular, the first opening of the embryo becomes the mouth in protostomes, and the anus in deuterostomes. Many taxonomists now recognize at least two more superphyla among
656-731: The gastrovascular cavity . Annelids have simple tube-like guts, and the possession of an anus allows them to separate the digestion of their foodstuffs from the absorption of the nutrients. Many molluscs have a radula , which is used to scrape microscopic particles off surfaces. In invertebrates with hard exoskeletons, various mouthparts may be involved in feeding behaviour. Insects have a range of mouthparts suited to their mode of feeding. These include mandibles, maxillae and labium and can be modified into suitable appendages for chewing, cutting, piercing, sponging and sucking. Decapods have six pairs of mouth appendages, one pair of mandibles, two pairs of maxillae and three of maxillipeds . Sea urchins have
697-533: The syrinx . For each burst of song, the bird opens its beak and closes it again afterwards. The beak may move slightly and may contribute to the resonance but the song originates elsewhere. Bilaterian Triploblasts Lankester, 1873 Bilateria ( / ˌ b aɪ l ə ˈ t ɪər i ə / BY -lə- TEER -ee-ə ) is a large clade or infrakingdom of animals called bilaterians ( / ˌ b aɪ l ə ˈ t ɪər i ə n / BY -lə- TEER -ee-ən ), characterized by bilateral symmetry (i.e. having
738-591: The Gastrea by Haeckel or Sedgwick , the Bilaterosgastrea by Gösta Jägersten [ sv ] , or the Trochaea by Nielsen). One hypothesis is that the original bilaterian was a bottom dwelling worm with a single body opening, similar to Xenoturbella . Alternatively, it may have resembled the planula larvae of some cnidaria, which have some bilateral symmetry. However, there is evidence that it
779-1541: The Nephrozoa. Subsequently the acoelomorphs were placed in phylum Xenacoelomorpha , together with the xenoturbellids , and the sister relationship between Xenacoelomorpha and Nephrozoa confirmed in phylogenomic analyses. A modern consensus phylogenetic tree for Bilateria is shown below, although the positions of certain clades are still controversial (dashed lines) and the tree has changed considerably since 2000. Cnidaria [REDACTED] Placozoa [REDACTED] Proarticulata ? † [REDACTED] Xenoturbellida [REDACTED] Nemertodermatida Acoela [REDACTED] Echinodermata [REDACTED] Hemichordata [REDACTED] † Cambroernida [REDACTED] Cephalochordata [REDACTED] Tunicata [REDACTED] Craniata / Vertebrata [REDACTED] † Saccorhytus coronarius † Vetulocystids [REDACTED] † Vetulicolians [REDACTED] Nematoda [REDACTED] Nematomorpha [REDACTED] Loricifera [REDACTED] Onychophora [REDACTED] Tardigrada [REDACTED] Arthropoda [REDACTED] Priapulida [REDACTED] Kinorhyncha [REDACTED] Rotifera and allies [REDACTED] Chaetognatha [REDACTED] Platyhelminthes and allies [REDACTED] Mollusca [REDACTED] Annelida and allies [REDACTED] ¿† Kimberella ? [REDACTED] Kimberella ? † [REDACTED] A different hypothesis
820-405: The airflow from the lungs in different ways and changes the mouth's resonating properties, producing a range of different sounds. In frogs, the sounds can be amplified using sacs in the throat region. The vocal sacs can be inflated and deflated and act as resonators to transfer the sound to the outside world. A bird's song is produced by the flow of air over a vocal organ at the base of the trachea ,
861-527: The below tree depicts Chordata as a sister group to Protostomia according to analyses by Philippe et al., the authors nonetheless caution that "the support values are very low, meaning there is no solid evidence to refute the traditional protostome and deuterostome dichotomy". Cnidaria [REDACTED] Placozoa [REDACTED] † Proarticulata Xenoturbellida [REDACTED] Nemertodermatida Acoela [REDACTED] Echinodermata [REDACTED] Operculum (fish) The operculum
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#1732765973313902-739: The body, making it longer, and an opposing set of longitudinal muscles, that shorten the body; these enable soft-bodied animals with a hydrostatic skeleton to move by peristalsis . Most bilaterians (nephrozoans) have a gut that extends through the body from mouth to anus, while xenacoelomorphs have a bag gut with one opening. Many bilaterian phyla have primary larvae which swim with cilia and have an apical organ containing sensory cells. However, there are exceptions to each of these characteristics; for example, adult echinoderms are radially symmetric (unlike their larvae), and certain parasitic worms have extremely plesiomorphic body structures. The hypothetical most recent common ancestor of all bilateria
943-524: The cells on the exterior surface by a process known as endocytosis . The particles became enclosed in vacuoles into which enzymes were secreted and digestion took place intracellularly . The digestive products were absorbed into the cytoplasm and diffused into other cells. This form of digestion is used nowadays by simple organisms such as Amoeba and Paramecium and also by sponges which, despite their large size, have no mouth or gut and capture their food by endocytosis. However, most animals have
984-531: The development of the opercular series include the Eda and Pitx1 genes. These genes are known to be a part of the development and loss of armor plates in gnathostomes. The Endothelin1 pathway is thought to be associated with the development of the operculum bone since it regulates dorsal-ventral patterning of the hyomandibular region. Mutations in the Edn1-pathway in zebrafish are known to lead to deformities of
1025-697: The earliest known bilaterian, but may also represent an infilled bubble. Fossil embryos are known from around the time of Vernanimalcula ( 580 million years ago ), but none of these have bilaterian affinities. Burrows believed to have been created by bilaterian life forms have been found in the Tacuarí Formation of Uruguay, and were believed to be at least 585 million years old. However, more recent evidence shows these fossils are actually late Paleozoic instead of Ediacaran. The Bilateria has traditionally been divided into two main lineages or superphyla . The deuterostomes traditionally include
1066-439: The formation of the shape is visible and then the individual components are developed days later. The size and shape of the operculum bone is dependent on the organism's location. For example, fresh water threespine sticklebacks form a less dense and smaller opercular series in relation to marine threespine sticklebacks. The marine threespine stickleback exhibits a larger and thicker opercular series. This provides evidence that there
1107-459: The gut, and the resulting particles engulfed by the other cells in the gut lining. Indigestible waste is ejected through the mouth. In animals at least as complex as an earthworm , the embryo forms a dent on one side, the blastopore , which deepens to become the archenteron , the first phase in the formation of the gut . In deuterostomes, the blastopore becomes the anus while the gut eventually tunnels through to make another opening, which forms
1148-431: The jaws, on the roof of the mouth, on the pharynx or on the gill arches . Nearly all amphibians are carnivorous as adults. Many catch their prey by flicking out an elongated tongue with a sticky tip and drawing it back into the mouth, where they hold the prey with their jaws. They then swallow their food whole without much chewing. They typically have many small hinged pedicellate teeth , the bases of which are attached to
1189-752: The jaws, while the crowns break off at intervals and are replaced. Most amphibians have one or two rows of teeth in both jaws but some frogs lack teeth in the lower jaw. In many amphibians, there are also vomerine teeth attached to the bone in the roof of the mouth. The mouths of reptiles are largely similar to those of mammals. The crocodilians are the only reptiles to have teeth anchored in sockets in their jaws. They are able to replace each of their approximately 80 teeth up to 50 times during their lives. Most reptiles are either carnivorous or insectivorous, but turtles are often herbivorous. Lacking teeth that are suitable for efficiently chewing of their food, turtles often have gastroliths in their stomach to further grind
1230-405: The mechanism for producing sounds for communication. To produce sounds, air is forced from the lungs over vocal cords in the larynx. In humans, the pharynx, soft palate, hard palate, alveolar ridge , tongue, teeth and lips are termed articulators and play their part in the production of speech . Varying the position of the tongue in relation to the other articulators or moving the lips restricts
1271-441: The most part, bilateral embryos are triploblastic , having three germ layers : endoderm , mesoderm and ectoderm . Except for a few phyla (i.e. flatworms and gnathostomulids ), bilaterians have complete digestive tracts with a separate mouth and anus . Some bilaterians lack body cavities ( acoelomates , i.e. Platyhelminthes , Gastrotricha and Gnathostomulida ), while others display primary body cavities (deriving from
Mouth - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-417: The mouth lining. Some mammals rely on panting for thermoregulation as it increases evaporation of water across the moist surfaces of the lungs, the tongue and mouth. Birds also avoid overheating by gular fluttering, flapping the wings near the gular (throat) skin, similar to panting in mammals. Various animals use their mouths in threat displays. They may gape widely, exhibit their teeth prominently, or flash
1353-468: The mouth. In the protostomes, it used to be thought that the blastopore formed the mouth ( proto– meaning "first") while the anus formed later as an opening made by the other end of the gut. More recent research, however, shows that in protostomes the edges of the slit-like blastopore close up in the middle, leaving openings at both ends that become the mouth and anus. Apart from sponges and placozoans , almost all animals have an internal gut cavity, which
1394-438: The opercular series' shape and size. The opercular series is vital in obtaining oxygen. They open as the mouth closes, causing the pressure inside the fish to drop. Water then flows towards the lower pressure across the fish's gill lamellae, allowing some oxygen to be absorbed from the water. Cartilaginous ratfishes (chimaeras) possess soft and flexible opercular flaps. Sharks, rays and relatives among elasmobranch fishes lack
1435-409: The organism’s canal pores. The preoperculum can be located through an exposed condyle that is present immediately under its ventral margin; it also borders the operculum, suboperculum, and interoperculum posteriorly. The suboperculum is rectangular in shape in most bony fish and is located ventral to the preoperculum and operculum components. It is the thinnest bone segment out of the opercular series and
1476-515: The plant material. Snakes have a very flexible lower jaw, the two halves of which are not rigidly attached, and numerous other joints in their skull. These modifications allow them to open their mouths wide enough to swallow their prey whole, even if it is wider than they are. Birds do not have teeth, relying instead on other means of gripping and macerating their food. Their beaks have a range of sizes and shapes according to their diet and are composed of elongated mandibles. The upper mandible may have
1517-522: The protostomes, Ecdysozoa (molting animals) and Spiralia . The arrow worms ( Chaetognatha ) have proven difficult to classify; recent studies place them in the Gnathifera . The traditional division of Bilateria into Deuterostomia and Protostomia was challenged when new morphological and molecular evidence found support for a sister relationship between the acoelomate taxa, Acoela and Nemertodermatida (together called Acoelomorpha ), and
1558-443: The remaining bilaterians. The latter clade was called Nephrozoa by Jondelius et al. (2002) and Eubilateria by Baguña and Riutort (2004). The acoelomorph taxa had previously been considered flatworms with secondarily lost characteristics, but the new relationship suggested that the simple acoelomate worm form was the original bilaterian body plan and that the coelom, the digestive tract, excretory organs, and nerve cords developed in
1599-417: The startling colours of the mouth lining. This display allows each potential combatant an opportunity to assess the weapons of their opponent and lessens the likelihood of actual combat being necessary. A number of species of bird use a gaping , open beak in their fear and threat displays. Some augment the display by hissing or breathing heavily, while others clap their beaks. Mouths are also used as part of
1640-484: Was an evolutionary change in the operculum bone. The thicker and more dense bone may have been favored due to selective pressures exerted from the threespine stickleback's environment. The development of the operculuar series has changed dramatically over time. The fossil record of the threespine stickleback provide the ancestral shapes of the operculum bone. Overall, the operculum bone became more triangular in shape and thicker in size over time. Genes that are essential in
1681-470: Was segmented, as the mechanism for creating segments is shared between vertebrates (deuterostomes) and arthropods (protostomes). The first evidence of bilateria in the fossil record comes from trace fossils in Ediacaran sediments, and the first bona fide bilaterian fossil is Kimberella , dating to 555 million years ago . Earlier fossils are controversial; the fossil Vernanimalcula may be