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The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus.The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and other animals, including the esophagus, stomach, and intestines.
The human rectum is a part of the lower gastrointestinal tract. The rectum is a continuation of the sigmoid colon, and connects to the anus. The rectum follows the shape of the sacrum and ends in an expanded section called an ampulla where feces is stored before its release via the anal canal.
It extracts water and salt from solid wastes before they are eliminated from the body and is the site in which the fermentation of unabsorbed material by the gut microbiota occurs. Unlike the small intestine, the colon does not play a major role in absorption of foods and nutrients. About 1.5 litres or 45 ounces of water arrives in the colon ...
Most of the digestion of food takes place in the small intestine. Water and some minerals are reabsorbed back into the blood in the colon of the large intestine. The waste products of digestion are defecated from the rectum via the anus.
For example, the kangaroo rat's feces contain only 1 ⁄ 6 as much water as that of other, non-desert rodents. [22] In insects, the rectal gland also absorbs water, and the insects excrete dry pellets. [21] In birds, along with some other vertebrates, the ureter and rectum both lead to the cloaca, whose walls also absorb water. [5] [8]
While the first part of the large intestine is responsible for the absorption of water and other substances from the chyme, the main function of the descending colon is to store waste until it can be removed from the body in solid form, when a person has a bowel movement. The stools gradually solidify as they move along into the descending colon.
anchors plants into place, absorbs water and minerals, and stores carbohydrates: roots: Shoot system: stem for holding and orienting leaves to the sun as well as transporting materials between roots and leaves, leaves for photosynthesis, and flowers for reproduction: stem, leaves, and flowers
The pelvic cavity also contains major arteries, veins, muscles, and nerves. These structures coexist in a crowded space, and disorders of one pelvic component may impact upon another; for example, constipation may overload the rectum and compress the urinary bladder, or childbirth might damage the pudendal nerves and later lead to anal weakness.