Common chamber into which the intestines and excretory system opens. Arises during development in all vertebrates, but in many it becomes subdivided, lost or incorporated into other structures.
Comment:
[development-note] "hindgut endoderm and proctodeal ectoderm." xsd:string {source="WP"}; [homology-note] "A cloaca is apparently a primitive vertebrate feature because it occurs in most primitive gnathostomes and persists in the embryos of almost all vertebrates.[well established][VHOG]" xsd:string {date_retrieved="2012-09-17", external_class="VHOG:0001186", ontology="VHOG", source="ISBN:978-0072528305 Kardong KV, Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution (2006) p.572", source="http://bgee.unil.ch/"}; [taxon-note] "Human beings only have an embryonic cloaca, which is split up into separate tracts during the development of the urinary and reproductive organs"