What is Coelem?
What Is a Coelom? A coelom is a fluid-filled body cavity that is completely lined by tissue created from the mesoderm, the middle layer of the primary cells found in an embryo. It is typically found in multicellular organisms, which are living things that have more than one cell. The most common types of multicellular organisms are found under the domain eukarya; more simplistic prokaryotic organisms are generally unicellular organisms. Most bilateral animals, those with a left and a right side, have a coelom, as well as vertebrates, or animals with a backbone.
Function The coelom has numerous functions, the first of which involves acting as a cushion for the internal organs of the organism. Let's look at an example.
If you've ever been in a car accident, you may remember traveling forward and then coming to a sudden stop. However, during the stop, your organs continued to move forward due to inertia. This is because when something is traveling in a certain direction, it has a tendency to continue in that direction until acted upon. During the accident, the coelom, or your body cavity, helped to prevent further damage by cushioning your organs.
If you did not have a coelom, and you had no body cavity, each and every time your heart took a beat or stomach rumbled, your skin would move and ripple. Picture for a second, an old Bugs Bunny cartoon, where a character's heart would literally beat and pulse out of its stretching skin. Without a coelom, you would experience something similar, albeit nowhere near as extensive as the cartoon character. The coelom also allows your internal organs to change shape, as they grow and move independently of your outer body wall.
In organisms such as worms, the coelom acts to maintain pressure inside of the organism. This acts as the worm's skeletal system, which allows the worm's muscles to do work.
A coelom is a fluid-filled body cavity that is completely lined by tissue created from the mesoderm, the middle layer of the primary cells found in an embryo. It is typically found in multicellular organisms, which are living things that have more than one cell. The most common types of multicellular organisms are found under the domain eukarya; more simplistic prokaryotic organisms are generally unicellular organisms. Most bilateral animals, those with a left and a right side, have a coelom, as well as vertebrates, or animals with a backbone.
FunctionThe coelom has numerous functions, the first of which involves acting as a cushion for the internal organs of the organism. Let's look at an example.
If you've ever been in a car accident, you may remember traveling forward and then coming to a sudden stop. However, during the stop, your organs continued to move forward due to inertia. This is because when something is traveling in a certain direction, it has a tendency to continue in that direction until acted upon. During the accident, the coelom, or your body cavity, helped to prevent further damage by cushioning your organs.
If you did not have a coelom, and you had no body cavity, each and every time your heart took a beat or stomach rumbled, your skin would move and ripple. Picture for a second, an old Bugs Bunny cartoon, where a character's heart would literally beat and pulse out of its stretching skin. Without a coelom, you would experience something similar, albeit nowhere near as extensive as the cartoon character. The coelom also allows your internal organs to change shape, as they grow and move independently of your outer body wall.
In organisms such as worms, the coelom acts to maintain pressure inside of the organism. This acts as the worm's skeletal system, which allows the worm's muscles to do work.
