coelom
Americannoun
noun
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The body cavity that forms from the mesoderm during the embryonic development of more complex animals. The coelom suspends the gut in fluid in the middle of the body, protecting it from gravity and allowing great increases in body size. The presence or absence of a coelom is important for the classification of animal phyla.
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See more at deuterostome protostome
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of coelom
1875–80; < Greek koílōma cavity, equivalent to koilō-, variant stem of koiloûn to hollow out (verbal derivative of koîlos hollow) + -ma noun suffix denoting result
Vocabulary lists containing coelom
Example Sentences
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All vertebrates have a coelom that helped them evolve complex organ systems.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Animals that do not have a coelom are called acoelomates.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
These animals are thought to have evolved from coelomates and may have lost their ability to form a coelom through genetic mutations.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Simple animals, such as worms and jellyfish, do not have a coelom.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Nephridia.—The nephridia in this group are invariably coiled tubes with an intracellular lumen and nearly invariably open into the coelom by a funnel.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various
Although still functional, these are considered false coeloms, and those animals are called pseudocoelomates.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
