I was curious about the fate of my umbilical cord on the inside, so I got out Gray's Anatomy and looked it up. Turns out that the umbilical cord is only an intermediate function for that structure in the grand scheme of things. It starts off as an embryonic structure, and gradually changes into a major blood vessel or two. Then when the placenta is developed it turns into the umbilical cord, and in the two or three weeks after delivery, it evolves into a ligament on your liver.
Other parts of the embryo have similar multiple functions. It's really pretty neat how good the body is at recycling organs and other structures.
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Date: 2004-11-17 07:35 pm (UTC)Other parts of the embryo have similar multiple functions. It's really pretty neat how good the body is at recycling organs and other structures.