EXCRETORY

SYSTEM
An Introduction
• The excretory system is the system of
an organism's body that performs the
function of excretion, the bodily
process of discharging wastes.
• Maintain volume of extracellular fluid
• Maintain ionic balance in extracellular fluid
• Maintain pH and osmotic concentration of the
extracellular fluid.
• Excrete toxic metabolic by-products such as
urea, ammonia, and uric acid.
• Collect water and filter body fluids.
• Remove and concentrate waste products from body fluids and return other substances to
body fluids as necessary for homeostasis.
• Eliminate excretory products from the body.
Primary Excretory system organs
• Kidneys- filter the wastes and flushes it out of the body as urine
• Skin- involves sweat glands and flushes out waste as sweat
• Lungs- releases CO2 as waste out of the body via exhalation
• Liver- Harmful poisons and chemicals that are either produced in the body or consumed
are broken down and detoxified by the liver
• Gallbladder- uses bile to breakdown fats, ethanol and other acidic wastes
• Urinary Bladder- stores urine in the body
• Ureters- passageway of urine from kidney to urinary bladder
• Urethra- carrier of urine outside of the body
• Large intestine- storage organ for fecal matter.
Excretory Organs
The Nephron, an the kidney
evolutionary modification
of the nephridium, is the
kidney's functional unit.
Waste is filtered from the
blood and collected as
urine in each kidney. Urine
leaves the kidneys
by ureters, and collects in
the urinary bladder. The
bladder can distend to
store urine that eventually
leaves through
the urethra.
 Fig. 110.—Kidney of the Ammocoetes
the kidney tubules larva of Peiromyzon (after Wheeler,
1900), consisting of
develop in two or pronephros and mesonephros; the
three separated former has four peritoneal funnels
and a glomus.
groups, in an
anteroposterior
succession. These
three groups are
called the
pronephros, the
mesonephros,
and the
metanephros
• Pronephros: The pronephros develops from the most anterior part of
the mesomere over a limited, usually small, number of segments. It
varies considerably in development and structure in different
vertebrates, and its one constant and distinguishing character is that it
has approximately only one tubule per segment.
• Mesonephros: The mesonephros is the functional kidney of the adults
of lamphreys, fishes, and amphibians.
• Metanephros: This is the third kidney of vertebrates, found only in
amniotes. Its tubules develop in the remaining, most posterior part of
the mesomere, behind the mesonephros, lack segmental arrangement,
have no peritoneal funnels, but are well proyided with renal corpuscles.
Diagrams to show the development of the three kidneys and their ducts and their
relation to the male gonad.
 The The nephron consists of a cup-shaped
capsule containing capillaries and
Nephron the glomerulus, and a long renal tube.
Blood flows into the kidney through the
renal artery, which branches into
capillaries associated with the
glomerulus. Arterial pressure causes
water and solutes from the blood to filter
into the capsule. Fluid flows through
the proximal tubule, which include the
loop of Henle, and then into the distal
tubule. The distal tubule empties into a
collecting duct. Fluids and solutes are
Filtration of the blood in the fine structure of the returned to the capillaries that surround
kidneys
the nephron tubule.
 The urinary bladder is, in all forms above

The urinary fishes, a sacciform evagination from the ventral

cloacal wall, which serves as a reservoir for the urine.

bladder In fishes the bladder, when present, is formed chiefly

by the enlargement of the terminal portions of the
mesonephric ducts. In the embryos of amniotes
there is an enormous cloacal evagination, the
allantois, which may be regarded as a greatly
expanded urinary bladder; it does act as a reservoir
for kidney excretions, but its chief function in the
amniote embryo is respiratory. It spreads out over
the inner surface of the egg shell in bird and reptile
embryos or the uterine wall in mammals, and its
blood vessels are the chief site of gaseous exchange.
The adult bladder develops at the base of the
allantoic stalk, except in birds, which lack a urinary
bladder. The kidney ducts generally do not open into
the bladder directly except in mammals.
The gonads
and their The gonads or sex glands consist
of a pair of testes in the male, ovaries in
ducts the female. The gonads develop from a
pair of elongated ridges, the genital
ridges, which arise to the medial side of
the kidneys. The length of these ridges
suggests that the gonads originally
extended the length of the
pleuroperitoneal cavity, but in present
vertebrates they are usually much
shorter than this.
• Male: The testis consists of admass of sperm-forming or seminiferous tubules, which
develop by proliferation from the germinal epithelium. These tubules connect with the
mesonephric tubules of the adjacent region of the mesonephros or opisthonephros- by
a set of tubules, termed the testicular network. This varies in form and development of
different vertebrates. Inside the testis the seminiferous tubules join a longitudinal canal
or a network; from these, small tubules, termed the efferent ductules, cross in the
mesorchium into the mesonephros or opisthonephros, where they open into the
cavities of the renal corpuscles, from which mesonephric tubules lead to the
mesonephric duct.
b) Female: The ovaries are masses of connective tissue containing various sizes of
eggs, each of which is surrounded by a layer of nutritive cells forming a follicle. The
ovaries, unlike the testes, never have any connection with the kidneys. Whereas the
sperm, as related above, travel in a closed system of tubes from testis to cloaca, the
ovaries of vertebrates have no connection with their ducts, and the ripe eggs are
discharged into the coelom. The ducts of the ovaries are called the oviducts. In
elasmobranchs they originate by the lengthwise splitting of the pronephric ducts,
half remaining as the mesonephric duct, half becoming the oviduct, which
appropriates one or more peritoneal funnels to serve as its coelomic opening, termed
the ostium. This developmental history does not apply to tetrapods, where the
oviduct and its funnel develop directly from the mesomere; but the findings in
elasmobranchs are usually taken to indicate the phylogenetic origin of the vertebrate
oviduct.
Diagrams to illustrate the urogenital
systems of male and female anamniotes
and amniotes.
The other systems
CHONDRICHTHYES

EXCRETORY SYSTEM
CHONDRICHTHYES

• Do not have separate openings for reproduction and

excretion.

• Cloaca- the posterior gut opening in the excretory

systems.
Excretion of Chondrichthyes

Function

• ridding the body of nitrogenous and other wastes.

• regulates the amount of water and ions present in the

body fluids.
Cartilaginous fishes
• they are ureotelic, like adult amphibians and
mammals.

• excrete urea (a chemical found in urine) as nitrogen

waste.
Excretory Organ

Liver
– important metabolic organ and the
largest gland in the body of a shark.
• production of protein components
• processing of the nutrient-rich blood from the
intestinal tract
• storage of glucose
• production of bile for enabling fat resorption from
the intestine
• decomposing and excretion of metabolic waste
products
Excretory Organ

Bile
• The viscous bile is an emulsifier for solving the fat
contained in food in the watery liquid in the intestine and
enabling better absorption of it through the intestinal wall.
Bile is produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder.
Excretory Organ

Kidneys

– Kidneys serve as excretion and osmo-regulating organs

• ensuring the right ion concentration in the shark’s body
• detoxifying blood and cleaning it from waste products such as urea,
• liver degradation products
• excess glucose and hormones.
Excretory Organ

Kidneys
• Nephrone -initial part of the kidney
• Glomerulum - are masses of
capillaries that (along with
Bowman's capsule) 'filter' the blood
- the first step in eliminating
waste products from the blood.
• Bowman's capsule
Sharks dispose of nitrogenous wastes by converting them
to urea and trimethylamine oxide, which is then stored
within the body’s fluids. NaCl that is not needed by the
shark will be excreted with its feces (a rectal gland within
the organism secretes Na+, and Cl- follows.)
• Sharks have a large glomorous
• They use the large amounts of uria in
their blood to help keep their level of
salts in sync with the salt levels of the
ocean.
• The tubules are what reabsorb the
uria.
• Solid wastes are removed through the
anus which is sometimes
accompanied by an anal fin.
EXCRETORY SYSTEM
OF BONY FISHES
The excretory
system of fish
consists of
two elongated
kidney, small
urinary
bladder,
urogenital
papilla, and
two short
mesonephric
duct.
KIDNEYS
- Kidneys filter waste from the blood

- Through usage of energy, fish are able

to break down the nitrates and
ammonia to a more usable source of
urea.
Freshwater bony fishes
• Large volume of urine, salts are
reabsorbed in the distal tubules

Marine bony fishes

• Lack distal tubule, smaller
glomerulus, can adjust amount of
urine
EXCRETORY SYSTEM
OF BONY FISHES
The excretory
system of fish
consists of
two elongated
kidney, small
urinary
bladder,
urogenital
papilla, and
two short
mesonephric
duct.
KIDNEYS
 In fishes some excretion also takes
place in the digestive tract, skin, and
especially the gills (where ammonia is
given off).
 Compared with land vertebrates, fishes
have a special problem in maintaining
their internal environment at a constant
concentration of water and dissolved
substances, such as salts.
 Proper balance of the internal
environment of a fish is in a great part
maintained by the excretory system,
especially the kidney.
Freshwater bony fishes
 Large volume of urine, salts are
reabsorbed in the distal tubules

Marine bony fishes

 Lack distal tubule, smaller
glomerulus, can adjust amount of
urine
ALIMUDIN APARES BARCELETE PALMERO
 Cloaca
 Absence of Penis
 Urinary Bladder
 Ammonotelism
 Ureotelism
 Order Urodela
 Order Anura
 Order Gymnophiona
 Urinary passages of
fishes and
amphibians
 Some species of
amphibians have a
bladder which extends
from the cloacal wall.
• The mullerian ducts (oviducts) of fishes,
amphibians, and reptiles are paired ducts
which extend to the cloaca.

• Eggs typically move into the ducts at the

anterior end, and in most fishes and
amphibians these eggs are deposited and
fertilized externally.

• A few fish and amphibian species experience internal fertilization

and the embryos develop within a portion of the duct called the
uterus.
Spermatophores
EXCRETORY SYSTEM
CLASS REPTILIA
DEVELOPMENT and EVOLUTION OF
KIDNEYS - Functional
kidney of
reptiles.
- Becomes the
adult kidney
and ureter.
- it varies in
shapes and
may be
lobulated.
- Peritoneal
funnel fail to
form, instead
spaces
regarded as
nephrocoels
form by
cavitation
process.
KIDNEYS

reabsorb much of the salt and water in the

nephron tubules.
 URINARY BLADDERS
 Provides temporary storage for
wastes product
 Identical cloacal bladder
 Others reptiles have NO urinary
bladder

- Enters the side of

the cloaca and
joins with fecal
materials before
being discharge

 Most reptiles cannot

concentrate urine in
their kidney so
concentration
occurs in cloaca
AVIAN EXCRETION
• Osmoregulation- mechanisms in
which birds regulate water and
electrolytes levels in their,
thereby maintaining homeostasis.

• Birds obtain water directly by

drinking and via the foods they
ingest (carnivores, frugivores,
nectativores)
How do birds drink?
• ‘dipping and tipping’ or by suction drinking

Drinking by a
Bengalese Finch.
Water runs
between the beak
tips as a result of
adhesion and
capillary action.
Avian Kidney
• Functions:
- Filtration of waste products of metabolism
- Reabsorption of valuable solutes from the filtrate such as
glucose
- Secretion of toxins and other solutes from the body fluids to
the filtrate
- Excretion of the filtrate from the system
Avian Kidney
• The urinary organs of birds consist of paired
kidneys and the ureters, which transport
urine to the urodeum of the cloaca.
• Urine is carried from
the avian kidneys to
the cloaca
(and, specifically,
the middle section
called
the urodeum)
by the ureters.
Avian Kidney
• Avian kidneys are divided into units called lobules. Each lobule
has a cortex (outer area) and medulla (or medullary cone). In
terms of volume, the avian kidney is primarily cortex (71-81%),
plus a relatively small medulla (range 5-15%) & blood vessels
larger than capillaries (range 10-13%).
Lobule of an avian kidney
The medullary cones include the loops of Henle and collecting ducts of
nephrons plus a number of capillaries called the vasa recta.
The avian renal medulla is cone shaped because the number of loops of
Henle decreases toward the apex of the medullary cones.
Avian nephrons
Most avian nephrons (75-
85%) are 'reptilian type',
with no loops of Henle and
are located in the cortex.
Only 15-25% are
'mammalian type' that have
loops of Henle and are
located in the medulla.
Avian Kidney
• Nephrons filter the blood plasma to eliminate waste products,
but, in doing so, must not lose needed materials (like glucose)
or too much water. Blood enters nephrons via small arteries
called afferent arterioles.
Nephron components (mammalian type
nephron shown):

Plasma is filtered from the

glomerular capillaries into the
glomerular capsule. Filtrate then
travels through the tubules and loop
of Henle before entering the
collecting duct.

1 = glomerular capsule, 2 = glomerulus,

3 = afferent arteriole, 4 = efferent arteriole,
5 = proximal convoluted tubule,
6 = distal convoluted tubule, 7 = collecting duct,
8 = loop of Henle, &
9 = peritubular capillaries (or vasa recta)
Avian Kidney
• Blood from nephrons
enters the glomerulus
(a collection of
capillaries) under high
pressure and 'filters'
through the walls of
the capillaries and the
walls of a surrounding
structure called a
capsule. Glomeruli of an Anna's Hummingbird. In some cases (A),
the glomerular capillary is twisted
into a spiral but more typically (B) is bent into one or two
loops that fold back on themselves.
Avian Kidney
• The filtrate that moves
from the glomerular
capsule into the
proximal tubules is
basically plasma without
protein (the protein
molecules are too
large). It is also where
reabsorption of
important substances
(like vitamins and
glucose) into the blood
takes place. Reabsorption of materials from the
proximal convoluted tubule back into the
blood.
Avian Kidney
1 = glomerular
capsule
2 = glomerulus
3 = afferent arteriole
4 = efferent arteriole
5 = proximal
convoluted tubule
6 = distal convoluted
tubule
7 = collecting duct
8 = loop of Henle
9 = peritubular
capillaries (or vasa
recta).
Avian Kidney

• Other than
mammals, birds
are the only vertebrates
that conserve body water by producing
urine osmotically more concentrated
than the plasma from which it is derived;
presence of medullary cores
Avian Kidney
• This reduced capacity of avian kidneys to concentrate urine
(compared to mammals) means that more water accompanies
the solutes that travel from the kidneys through ureters to the
cloaca; release of arginine vasotocin (AVT) from pituitary gland
into the blood
Eliminating Nitrogenous Wastes
Eliminating Nitrogenous Wastes
• Protein is an important part of the diet of the bird, wherein the
amino acids are used as an energy source while removing the
amine group (NH2), which are toxic.
• Birds (and reptiles) excrete these wastes primarily as uric acid
(not very toxic, not soluble in water so it can be excreted
without using lots of water, and it can be stored in eggs
without damaging embryos); Uricotelic
Maintaining homeostasis: Cloaca and Salt glands
• In birds, the kidneys, salt glands
and lower gastrointestinal tract
(cloaca, rectum, and ceca) are
involved in the regulation of
extracellular fluid composition.
• Cloaca - serves as a posterior
opening for intestinal, genital,
and urinary tract; where the uric
acid is released
Cloaca
“Retrograde peristalsis”
Salt glands
• Marine birds Salt glands
solve the
problem of water
loss by drinking
sea water and
excreting excess
salt through salt
glands near the
Salt secretion
eyes.
 Nasal salt gland

(a) An albatross’s salt glands Nostril

empty via a duct into the with salt
nostrils, and the salty solution secretions
either drips off the tip of the
beak or is exhaled in a fine mist.

Lumen of
secretory tubule

Vein

Capillary

Secretory
tubule Artery (c) The secretory cells actively
transport salt from the
NaCl blood into the tubules.
Transport Blood flows counter to the
epithelium flow of salt secretion. By
(b) One of several thousand maintaining a concentration
secretory tubules in a salt- gradient of salt in the tubule
excreting gland. Each tubule Direction (aqua), this countercurrent
is lined by a transport of salt system enhances salt
epithelium surrounded by movement transfer from the blood to
Blood Secretory cell the lumen of the tubule.
capillaries, and drains into flow of transport
a central duct.
epithelium

Central
duct
EXCRETORY SYSTEM OF MAMMALS
Excretory System
•is the system of an organism's body
that performs the function of
excretion, the bodily process of
discharging wastes.

•is responsible for the elimination of

wastes produced by homeostasis.
There are several parts of the
body that are involved in this
process, such as skin, urinary
bladder, the liver, the lungs and
the kidney system.
 Kidneys are responsible for
filtering the filtrate and
returning most of the solutes
and water to the blood.
 KIDNEY
kidneys which is a compact organ consist
of:
cortex,
medulla

Nephrons is the functional unit of kidney

which consists of:
Glomerulus (Bowman’s Capsule)
Loop of Henle.
 URINARY BLADDER

•After the kidneys filter the fluid, the

remaining wastes go to the bladder.
•The organ stores the urine, and keeps
storing it until its full and release the
wastes or urine.
•Urine enters the bladder via the
ureters and exits via the urethra.
 SKIN
•regulate one's body temperature.
•salt in the skin helps in evaporation of the
water off of the body, to cool off one who
is hot.
•Sweat is excreted through sweat glands.
•Sweating helps the body maintain a cool,
consistent temperature, which also helps
one maintain homeostasis.
 LIVER

•liver detoxifies and breaks down

chemicals, poisons and other toxins
that enter the body.
•liver orders the gall bladder to release
bile into the intestines to absorb the
fats in the bloodstream.
•removes the iron, which involves red
blood cell production.
 LUNGS

•lungs remove the carbon dioxide

built up in your blood using
specialized cells known as alveoli.
•lungs process the molecules into
gas.
The mechanism of urine formation
involves three processes:
Filtration
Reabsorption
Secretion

• Primary urine is formed by filtration

from the blood.
•Secretion is used by renal
physiologists to imply transport.
•Filtration implies that all molecules
below a certain size are allowed to
pass nonselectively into the primary
urine.
•Reabsorption and secretion imply the
existence of specific mechanisms for
the transport of specific substances.