Cats are not foreign to peculiar anatomical characteristics. They have a small strange bag on the sides of the ears and large flabby bags that hang from the belly – but are these bags adorned with a navel?
According to O, you can be surprised to learn how many creatures have these small accessories in their belly.
The belly button is a scar that forms after the umbilical cord is separated shortly after birth – yes, we already know that it knows this… it was just to remember – has the function of providing oxygen and nutrients to the embryo while inside the mother, but as soon as the baby is born, this organ loses its function and falls, leaving behind a unique scar.
But how unique are these bags full of bacteria that serve to catch the quote? In fact, not much. Yes, like all placental mammals, Cats have navel.
Mammals are divided into three main categories: placental mammals, marsupials e Monotremados.
Os placental mammals are those who gestate inside an inner uterus before being born – include gatos, dogs, monkeys, Human beings and so on.
Os marsupials They give light underdeveloped offspring, which are fed through a Viteline bag while they are inside the womb, before passing the rest of their development in an outer bag similar to a womb, where they feed on breast milk – this group includes kangarois, coalas e wombats.
Finally, the Monotremadosof which there are only five species, They lay eggs instead of giving birth to living offspring.
Since placental mammals are the only species that have an umbilical cord that binds to the placenta in the womb, it would be fair to suppose that they are the only animals that have a “navel”. But are they?
Defines the belly button as “a depression in the middle of the abdomen that marks the point of old binding of the umbilical cord or the viteline peduncle“.
The inclusion of “eve” in this definition is important, as it means that animals that feed through a eve, either in the case of marsupials, oviparous animals (which are born of eggs) or viviparous (living) reptile species and fish species, can also have navel.
Animals fed through a vitlo peduncle, which connects the viteline bag to the middle intestine, include the above mentioned marsupials during their initial phase of gestation and the animals that develop within an egg.
When viviparous reptiles and some fish species gestate inside the mother, they are also linked to viteline bags instead of the placental wall. However, not all viviparic fish species are fed through a viteline bag called lecithotrophy; some receive nutrients directly from the mother, similar to placental mammals, a process called matrotrophy.
Once you know what to look for, you’ll see navels everywhere, including dinosaurs (in images, of course), the scaly belly of a snake or the gimmick window of a cat.
Teresa Oliveira Campos, Zap //
