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Earthworms use, in addition to the digestive proteins, a class of surface active compounds called drilodefensins, which help digest plant material. [29] Instead of being coiled like a mammalian intestine, in the earthworm's intestine a large mid-dorsal, tongue-like fold is present, called a typhlosole , with many folds running along its length ...
The digestive tract is essentially a tube running the length of the body, but has a powerful muscular pharynx immediately behind the mouth cavity. In many species, the pharynx simply helps the worm suck in food, but in many aquatic species, it can be turned inside out and placed over food like a suction cup before being pulled back in.
Gizzard of a chicken. The gizzard, also referred to as the ventriculus, gastric mill, and gigerium, is an organ found in the digestive tract of some animals, including archosaurs (birds and other dinosaurs, crocodiles, alligators, pterosaurs), earthworms, some gastropods, some fish, and some crustaceans.
Earthworms in this family have the ability to decompose lignocellulose, which requires assistance from microorganisms in their digestive system. [9] Aside from microorganisms, digestive enzymes such as amylase and cellulase , and proteins can be found in different regions of the gut .
Earthworms store their partners' sperm in spermathecae ("sperm stores") and then the clitellum produces a cocoon that collects ova from the ovaries and then sperm from the spermathecae. Fertilization and development of earthworm eggs takes place in the cocoon. Leeches' eggs are fertilized in the ovaries, and then transferred to the cocoon.
The developing digestive tube of an embryo forms as a blind pouch called the archenteron. In protostomes , the coelom forms by a process known as schizocoely . [ 6 ] The archenteron initially forms, and the mesoderm splits into two layers: the first attaches to the body wall or ectoderm , forming the parietal layer and the second surrounds the ...
In animals at least as complex as earthworms, the first phase in gut development involves the embryo forming a dent on one side (the blastopore) which deepens to become its digestive tube (the archenteron). In the sister-clade, the deuterostomes (lit.
In different earthworm families, the typhlosole appears to have multiple origins. The Lumbricidae, for example, have a typhlosole which is an infolding of all layers of the intestine wall, whereas in some other families (e.g. Megascolecidae), it is an infolding of only the inner layer, and in many earthworms it is absent.