A tube or collection of tubes in an animal from the ovaries to the outside of the body.
Comment:
[homology-note] "In all remaining vertebrates (i.e., coelacanths, lungfishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals), the oviduct arises in ontogeny as a longitudinal, groovelike invagination of the coelomic epithelium on the lateral surface of the mesonephros.[well established][VHOG]" xsd:string {date_retrieved="2012-09-17", external_class="VHOG:0001136", ontology="VHOG", source="ISBN:978-0030223693 Liem KF, Bemis WE, Walker WF, Grande L, Functional Anatomy of the Vertebrates: An Evolutionary Perspective (2001) p.687-688", source="http://bgee.unil.ch/"}; [taxon-note] "in birds divided into infundibulum, magnum, isthmus, uterus, and vagina"; [taxon-note] "The only female vertebrates to lack oviducts are the jawless fishes. In these species, the single fused ovary releases eggs directly into the body cavity. The fish eventually extrudes the eggs through small genital pores towards the rear of the body[WP]"
Synonyms:
exact_synonym:
ovarian duct; ovarian tube; uterine tube
related_synonym:
female reproductive tracts; oviducts; tuba uterina; tuba uterinae; tubular parts of female reproductive system