| Buccopharyngeal membrane | |
|---|---|
 Human embryo about twenty-five days old.Brain andheart represented from right side.Digestive tube andyolk sac in median section.Oropharyngeal membrane labeled in upper left. | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | membrana buccopharyngea |
| Anatomical terminology | |
The region where the crescentic masses of theectoderm andendoderm come into direct contact with each other constitutes a thin membrane, thebuccopharyngeal membrane (ororopharyngeal membrane), which forms aseptum between the primitivemouth andpharynx. In front of the buccopharyngeal area, where the lateral crescents ofmesoderm fuse in the middle line, thepericardium is afterward developed, and this region is therefore designated thepericardial area.
The buccopharyngeal membranes serve as a respiratory surface in a wide variety of amphibians and reptiles. In this type of respiration, membranes in the mouth and throat are permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide. In some species that remain submerged in water for long periods, gas exchange by this route can be significant.[1]
This article incorporates text in thepublic domain frompage 47 of the 20th edition ofGray's Anatomy(1918)
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