One of a series of paired embryological vascular structures formed within a pharyngeal arch; in the adult, some of these vessels give rise to the great vessels[MP].
Comment:
[development-note] "The third, fourth, and sixth arches, along with the seventh intersegmental arteries and the left dorsal aorta, are the primary contributors to the normal aortic arch and its major thoracic branches"; [homology-note] "When vertebrates first appeared, they must have possessed a ventral and dorsal aorta with aortic arches between them.[well established][VHOG]" xsd:string {date_retrieved="2012-09-17", external_class="VHOG:0000122", ontology="VHOG", source="ISBN:978-0030223693 Liem KF, Bemis WE, Walker WF, Grande L, Functional Anatomy of the Vertebrates: An Evolutionary Perspective (2001) p.620", source="http://bgee.unil.ch/"}; [taxon-note] "Number varies - Lampreys have 8, hagfishes 15; only up to 6 appear in embryonic development in most gnathostome fishes and all tetrapods"