branchial arch

branchial arch   n.  See gill arch.

Main Entry: branchial arch
Function: noun
: one of a series of bony or cartilaginous arches that develop in the walls of the mouth cavity and pharynx of a vertebrateembryo, consist typically of a curved segmented bar or rod on each side meeting the contralateral bar or rod at the ventral end, and correspond to the gill arches of fishes and amphibians called alsopharyngeal arch, visceral arch

branchial arch n.
Any of usually six embryonic arches that give rise to specialized structures in the head and neck in the higher vertebrates. Also called gill arch, pharyngeal arch, visceral arch.

branchial arch

one of the bony or cartilaginous curved bars on either side of the pharynx (throat) that support the gills of fishes and amphibians; also, a corresponding rudimentary ridge in the embryo of higher vertebrates, which in some species may form real but transitory gill slits. In the human embryo, the branchial arches give rise to such structures as the mandible, hyoid bone, and larynx.

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