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4.3: Body Cavities

  • Page ID
    2194
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    In contrast to many primitive animals, vertebrates have spaces or body cavities that contain the body organs. Most vertebrates have a single body cavity but in mammals the diaphragm divides the main cavity into a thoracic and an abdominal cavity. In the thoracic cavity the heart and lungs are surrounded by their own membranes so that cavities are created around the heart - the pericardial cavity, and around the lungs – the pleural cavity (see diagram 4.13).

    Diagram 4.13: The body cavities


    This page titled 4.3: Body Cavities is shared under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ruth Lawson via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.