branchial arches
Embryonic throat structures
Branchial arches are ridges of tissue in vertebrate embryos that develop into structures of the head and neck.
In fish, they become gills.
In humans and other mammals, they form the jaw, ear bones, and throat cartilage.
The term comes from the Greek word for gills, reflecting our aquatic evolutionary origins.
Bone holding teeth
- malleusHammer-shaped hearing bone
- incusMiddle ear ossicle
- stapesInner ear ossicle
- maxillaUpper jaw bone
mandible · larynx · trachea · middle ear · hyoid bone · pharynx · carotid artery · cartilage
Chromosomal microdeletion disorder
- cleft palateCongenital oral roof opening
- congenital heart defectsHeart abnormalities present at birth
Structural similarity through descent
- gill slitsRespiratory openings in fish
- comparative anatomyStudy of structural similarities between organisms
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
- vestigialReduced, without current function
Haeckel · recapitulation · fossil record · cladistics · common descent
Embryonic tissue forming muscles
- endodermInnermost embryonic tissue layer
- ectodermEmbryo's outer cell layer
- morphogenesisDevelopmental shape emergence
- organogenesisEmbryonic tissue becoming structures
fetal development · gastrulation · segmentation · differentiation · gestational · congenital · teratology · ontogeny
jaw
Bone holding teeth
maxilla · mandible · larynx · trachea · middle ear · hyoid bone · pharynx · carotid artery · cartilage
DiGeorge syndrome
Chromosomal microdeletion disorder
- cleft palateCongenital oral roof opening
- congenital heart defectsHeart abnormalities present at birth
homology
Structural similarity through descent
- gill slitsRespiratory openings in fish
- comparative anatomyStudy of structural similarities between organisms
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
vestigial · Haeckel · recapitulation · fossil record · cladistics · common descent
mesoderm
Embryonic tissue forming muscles
- endodermInnermost embryonic tissue layer
- ectodermEmbryo's outer cell layer
- morphogenesisDevelopmental shape emergence
organogenesis · fetal development · gastrulation · segmentation · differentiation · gestational · congenital · teratology · ontogeny
- embryonic structuresembryo, fetus, zygote, blastocyst, morula
- skull bonesfrontal bone, nasal bone, maxilla, mandible, vomer