Mesonephros
| Mesonephros | |
|---|---|
Reconstruction of a human embryo of 17 mm. (Mesonephros labelled at center right) | |
| Details | |
| Carnegie stage | 14 |
| Days | 22 |
| Precursor | Pronephros |
| Gives rise to | Kidney |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | mesonephros |
| MeSH | D008650 |
| TE | E5.6.2.0.0.0.1 |
| FMA | 72171 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
The mesonephros (Greek: middle kidney) is one of three excretory organs that develop in vertebrates. It serves as the main excretory organ of aquatic vertebrates and as a temporary kidney in reptiles, birds, and mammals. The mesonephros is also known as the Wolffian body after Caspar Friedrich Wolff who described it in 1759. (The Wolffian body is composed of: mesonephros + paramesonephrotic blastema)