DIGESTIVE SYSTEM IN

CHORDATES
T Y B SC PAPER –I :COMPARATIVE ANATOMY

Prof. Sudesh Rathod

Zoology Department
B. N. Bandodkar college of Science, Thane
Phylogeny
 Digestive tube and its evolution
 The development of gut is exhibited in gastrulation
when stomodeum and proctodeum develop to
form mouth and anus respectively.
 Function of gut is to perform physical and
chemical treatment of food and absorption of
digested food. During this very slow process of
digestion the food is pushed from anterior to the
posterior through peristaltic movements.
 Digestive System

 Agnatha - straight
digestive tube
Coiled tube evolved
with lengthening of tract

Figure 11.1: Simple to complex

digestive systems.
Digestive tube and its evolution
 In more primitive metazoans the
entrance and exit for food is common
e.g. Coelenterates
 Chordates being more progressive
metazoans have separate entrance
and exit for food at opposite ends.
 Mouth (entrance for food) lies
anteriorly little underside.
 Anus (exit for waste) lies at the end
of trunk. Caudal end has no digestive
tube.
 Primary division of digestive tube
 Digestive tube is divided into mouth, pharynx,
esophagus, stomach and intestine in chordates.
 Primitive chordates almost lack esophagus and
in some grps. Even the stomach is absent.
 In mammals and certain other vertebrates
digestive tract terminates externally at anus. In
most grps. the terminal segment of gut has the
cloaca, into which urinary and genital duct also
lead.
 Liver despite some secretion acts mainly as
food storage and conversion centre. It is a large
ventral outgrowth of digestive tube in
vertebrates. Pancreas is placed dorsally in the
vertebrates as enzyme secreting gland.
 In Protochordates the digestive tract is very simple. The
pharynx is large extending about half of body length. It is
perforated giving out several or a few gill slits helping
filter feeding.
 Posterior to the pharynx is a simple digestive tube with a
little division. Anterior part help in digestion and the
posterior part absorb the digested food. Anus open in a
pocket called atrium. The pharynx has a grove at floor
called endostyle which secret sticky mucus trapping the
food particles maintained by the cilia present on the gill
slits.
Digestive systems variations
Esophagus
 Muscular tube connecting
pharynx and stomach
 Can be short
 Crop- specialization in birds
Outpocketing of esophagus
Used to store food
Pigeon’s milk

Figure 11.16: Esophagus

and crop of bird.
 Stomach
 Muscular chamber
 Secretes gastric juices
 Different lining of stomachs
Esophageal-like epithelia
Glandular epithelia
 Ruminant stomach
4 chambers: rumen, reticulum,
omasum, abomasum
 Human stomach
Cardiac sphincter- esophagus Figure 11.17: Stomach of mammals with
esophageal-like epithelia in gray and
meets stomach glandular epithelia in red.
Mostly lined with gastric
epithelium
 4-Chambered Stomachs
 Rumen- food enters
Bacterial action
 Reticulum- forms a bolus
 Omasum- reswallowed
grass
Salivary action
 Abomasum- food worked
out by gastric glands

Figure 11.18: Stomach of calf.

 Stomach Structure
 Greater and lesser curvature
 Messentaries
Greater omentum – attaches along greater
curvature
Lesser omentum – attaches along lesser curvature
 Cecum- increases surface area
 2 parts in bird and crocodile stomach
Proventiculus-glandular
Gizzard- grinding mill (gastroliths)
 Small Intestine
 Duodenum- 1st segment
 Bile and pancreatic ducts
 Jejunum and Ileum
subdivisions

Figure 11.19: Digestive tract

showing regions of small
intestine.
 Small Intestine
 Brunner’s Glands- mucous glands in
duodenum and jejunum
 Peyer’s Patches- lymphatic nodules in ileum
 Crypts of Lieberkühns- intestinal glands at
base of villi
 Lacteals- within villi—interior lymphatic
vessels
Transport fat molecules to circulatory system
 Valve of Kirckring- increases surface area
Small Intestine

Figure 11.20: Histology of alimentary canal of a

mammal showing various glands of small intestine.
 Large Intestine
 Fish and amphibians - straight and short
 Amniotes- divided into colon and rectum

 Ileocecal valve- allows passage from small

intestine into large
 Sigmoid flexure- S-shaped region
at rectum
 Cecum- aids in absorption
Terminates at vermiform appendix
 Cloaca- common chamber for
digestive, urinary, and reproductive
products to empty (includes monotremes)
Figure 11.21: Large intestine of human
Liver
 Liver is diverticulum of primitive gut
 Liver produces bile
Bile stored in gallbladder
Common bile duct
○ Ampulla of Vater- terminal portion

Figure 11.22: Development of liver and pancreas.

 Pancreas
 Pancreas – diverticulum of gut
 Duct of Santorini- small, dorsal pancreas
 Duct of Wirsung- large, ventral pancreas
 Accessory duct- large duct after small, dorsal
duct disappears
 Exocrine and endocrine glands
Islets of Langerhans- endocrine glands

 Rectal gland- diverticulum in sharks

MOUTH:

 In primitive chordates the mouth originated at opposite end of the blastopore in

gastrula stage forming an invagination called stomodeum.
 In higher chordates (vertebrates) the digestive tube is further evolved to differentiate
into various specialized parts as the feeding habit of the species evolved.
 Mouth is guarded by the lips and jaws are developed in Gnathostomata whereas the
Agnatha lack the lips and jaws.
 With the advent of vertebrates the buccal cavity divided horizontally by development
of Palate e.g. in crossopterygian (lung fishes and Coelacanths) and tetrapods. This
palatine area further develop with hard and soft palates in reptilians onwards to
separate respiratory tract from the digestive one.
 In mammals palate is highly developed to manipulate food having horizontal ridges.
Whale develop whale bone from palate to feed on small organisms (filter feeding).
 In land vertebrates (tetrapods) in absence of water the gills were reduced to tongue.
The true tongue develops in tetrapods. It is formed from the gill bars and
hypobranchial system and is anchored to the floor of mouth on hyoid apparatus.
 The land vertebrates also developed salivary glands to moisten food during
ingestion (due to lack of water medium). Parotid, submaxillary and sublingual
glands.
 Dentition is of high characteristics in jawed chordates (Gnathostomata). This
enabled higher vertebrates to explore more types of food.
Oral Cavity
 Begins at mouth,
ends at pharynx
 Tongue in floor of
cavity
 Palate in roof of
cavity
 Primary palate
 Secondary palate
 Teeth
Figure 11.2: Human oral cavity.
 Palates
 Primary palate in
anamniotes- nasal
passageways empty into
oral cavity
Ex: Salamander
 Secondary palate of
amniotes- extends to
pharyngeal cavity
Internal nares

Figure 11.3: Oral cavity of

amphibian (a) and mammal
(b).
 Structure of Tooth and positioning
 Teeth originate from ectoderm and get
embedded in dermal bone (jaws)
 Outer covering dentine extremely hard
material in lower vertebrates
 In mammals outermost covering shiny
enamel.
 The bone cells arrange in parallel
fashion to form canaliculi
 Root is embedded in jaw, may have
more than one root. Cement holds the
tooth in jaw.
 Crown is further modified to form flat
and broad surface in higher
vertebrates.
 Teeth
 On jaws normally
 Cheeks in mammals form pocket
 Acrodont teeth- fish and snakes
 Bicuspid- amphibians
 Tricuspid- lizards
 Pleurodont teeth- snakes
 Thecodont teeth-
crocodilians

Figure 11.5- Types of

Figure 11.4- Cross section of jaw. cusps.
Positions of tooth
Teeth in lower vertebrates
 Teeth were mostly food strainers in primitive
vertebrates, e.g. (Cyclostomes).
 Lower vertebrates have capacity to replace the tooth.
E.g. sharks, crocodiles.
 In Actinopterigians teeth are present in pharynx.
 In lower vertebrates (except birds and mammals)
teeth develop on dermal palate also.
 In bony fishes and extinct amphibian teeth are
situated on lower part of jaws.
 Birds and tortoise lost teeth secondarily.
Tooth as simple marginal cone in elasmobranches in lung
fishes the marginal teeth are lost entirely. In some fishes the
maxillary teeth are lost and replaced by pharyngeal and
palatine teeth (Actinopterygians)
 In some crossopterygians the teeth had
logitudinal grooves like labyrinth.
 In old amphibians labyrinthine teeth are so
common that the group is named as
Labyrinthodontia. (persistent in sphenodon,
snakes and lizards)
 In modern amphibians teeth are small and
simple.
 In reptiles teeth are simple conical type. Palate
teeth were present in ancestral reptiles.
 Sphenodon has acrodont tooth attachments
whereas crocodiles show pleurodont and
thecodont attachment.
 Modifications of Snake Teeth
 Aglyphous- no
modifications for venom
delivery
 Solenoglyphous-
retractable teeth, fangs
 Proteroglyphous- fangs in
front of mouth
 Opisthoglyphous- fangs in
back of mouth
Figure 11.8: Position, cross and
longitudinal sections of aglyphous
(1), opisthoglyphous (2), and
solenoglyphous (3) fangs.
 Bird Teeth
 Egg caruncle- all egg
layers
Not actual tooth
Structure epidermal, horny,
keratinized
On tip of snout
To penetrate egg shell

Figure 11.6: Egg caruncle of 15

day old owlet.
 Mammalian Teeth

 Heterodont dentition
 Other varieties
Homodont- all teeth the same
Bunodont- all teeth on single plain
Sectorial teeth – carnassials; e.g., upper premolar
and lower molar in carnivores
 Mammalian Teeth
 Incisors
For cutting
Ex: elephant tusks
 Canines
For piercing
Ex: walrus tusks
 Premolars & Molars
To matriculate food
 Diastema- space Figure 11.9: Mammalian teeth
without teeth; e.g., no specializations.

canines
Mammalian dentition
Dental formula
 Dental Formula
 Catarrhines and humans have
2-1-2-3=16 x 2 = 32 total teeth
 Canines: 3-1-4-2 and 3-1-4-3
 If 0 is present, diastema is present

Figure 11.10: Dental formulae.

Man
Carnivores
Elephants
Horse