Monday, 7 December 2015

homework - Do humans have Coelom?


Kimball Biology 5e says



Coelom is the main body cavity of many animals. It is lined with an epithelium derived from mesoderm.




Gilbert Embryonal Biology 9e says



Coelom is the space between the somatic mesoderm and splanchnic mesoderm that becomes the body cavity. In mammals, the coelom becomes subdivided into the pleural, pericardial, and peritoneal cavities, enveloping the thorax, heart, and abdomen, respectively.



Then my lecture materials and the research site say



Coelom is the secondary body cavity.



Finnish Wikipedia says that Coelom is only with invertebrates. Again the Wikipedia page about peritoneum suggests that human has abdominal cavity and no coelom, and other mammalians coelom.



Does human have Coelom?


The confusing thing is the use of the word "OR", since I am not sure whether people are using it in different pages like "XOR" or like "AND" in normal speaking.



Answer



Wikipedia actually covers this:



Most bilateral animals, including all the vertebrates, are coelomates.



Now, some coelomates have subsequently lost their coelom but primates (actually, I believe, all vertebrates) are not among them. In humans, the coelom forms, amongst others, the pleural cavity.


So, yes: humans do have a coelom that partitions into different, unconnected body cavities during development.


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