Torso

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Torso

Torso is an anatomical term for the central part of the many animal bodies (including that of the human) from which extend the neck and limbs. It is sometimes referred to as the trunk. The torso includes the thorax

Thorax

The thorax is a division of an animal's body that lies between the head and the abdomen.In mammals, the thorax is the region of the body formed by the sternum, the thoracic vertebrae and the ribs....
and abdomen

Abdomen

In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity....
.

Major organs Most critical organs

Organ (anatomy)

In biology, an organ is a biological tissue that performs a specific function or group of functions. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues....
are housed within the torso.

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Thorax

Abdomen

In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity....
.

Anatomy

Major organs

Most critical organs

Organ (anatomy)

In biology, an organ is a biological tissue that performs a specific function or group of functions. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues....
are housed within the torso. In the upper chest, the heart

Heart

The heart is a muscle organ in all vertebrates responsible for pumping blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in annelids, mollusks, and arthropods....
and lungs are protected by the rib cage

Human rib cage

The human rib cage, also known as the thoracic cage, is a bony and cartilaginous structure which surrounds the thoracic cavity and supports the pectoral girdle, forming a core portion of the human skeleton....
, and the abdomen contains the majority of organs responsible for digestion

Digestion

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be Absorption, for instance, by a blood stream....
: the liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals; it has a wide range of functions, a few of which are detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion....
, which respectively produces bile

Bile

Bile or gall is a bitter yellow or green fluid secreted by hepatocytes from the liver of most vertebrates. In many species, bile is stored in the gallbladder between meals and upon eating is discharged into the duodenum where the bile aids the process of digestion of lipids....
necessary for digestion; the large

Large intestine

The large intestine is the last part of the digestive system?the final stage of the alimentary canal?in vertebrate animals. Its function is to absorb water from the remaining indigestible food matter, and then to pass this useless feces from the body....
and small intestine

Small intestine

In vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, birds, and bony fish, the small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract following the stomach, and is where the vast majority of digestion takes place....
s, which extract nutrients from food; the anus

Anus

The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to expel feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest, such as coprolite ; food material after all the nutrients have b...
, from which fecal wastes

Human feces

Human Feces , also known as stools, is the waste product of the human digestive system and varies significantly in appearance, depending on the state of the whole digestive system, influenced by diet and health....
are excreted; the rectum

Rectum

The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the Gastrointestinal tract in others, terminating in the anus....
, which stores feces

Feces

Feces, faeces, or f?ces is a waste product from an animal's gastrointestinal tract expelled through the anus during defecation....
; the gallbladder

Gallbladder

The gallbladder is a small non-vital Organ which aids in the digestive process and concentrates bile produced in the liver....
, which stores and concentrates bile and produces chyme

Chyme

Chyme is the semifluid mass of partly digested food expelled by the stomach into the duodenum. In other words, chyme is half digested food. Also known as Chymus, it is the liquid substance found in the stomach before passing through the pyloric valve and entering the duodenum....
; the ureter

Ureter

In human anatomy, the ureters are muscular ducts that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. In the adult, the ureters are usually long....
s, which passes urine

Urine

Urine is a liquid waste product of the body secreted by the kidneys by a process of filtration from blood called urination and excreted through the urethra....
to the bladder; the bladder

Urinary bladder

In anatomy, the urinary bladder is a solid, muscle, and distensible organ that sits on the pelvic floor in mammals. It is the organ that collects urine excreted by the kidneys prior to disposal by urination....
, which stores urine; and the urethra

Urethra

In anatomy, the urethra is a tube which connects the urinary bladder to the outside of the body. The urethra has an excretory function in both sexes to pass urine to the outside, and also a reproductive function in the male, as a passage for semen....
, which excretes urine and passes sperm

Sperm

The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive Cell . In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell....
through the seminal vesicle

Seminal vesicle

The seminal vesicles are a pair of simple tubular glands posteroinferior to the urinary bladder of males....
s. Finally, the pelvic region houses both the male and female reproductive organs.

Major muscle groups

The torso also harbours many of the main groups of muscles in the body, including the:

pectoral muscles
Pectoral muscles

Pectoral muscles can refer to:* Pectoralis major muscle* Pectoralis minor muscle...
abdominal muscles
lateral muscle

Innervation

The organs and muscles etc. are innervated by various nerves, mainly originating from thoracic vertebral segments. For instance, the cutaneous innervation

Cutaneous innervation

Cutaneous innervation refers to the area of the skin which is supplied by a specific nerve, that is, by a cutaneous nerve.Dermatome s are similar; however, a dermatome only specifies the area served by a spinal nerve....
is provided by:

Ventral cutaneous branches
Ventral cutaneous branches

The ventral cutaneous branches are nerve branches that supply the skin of ventral part of torso. The rest of the torso is innervated by the lateral cutaneous branches of torso and dorsal cutaneous branches....
Lateral cutaneous branches
Dorsal cutaneous branches
Dorsal cutaneous branches

The dorsal cutaneous branches are nerve branches that supply the skin of dorsal part of torso. The rest of the torso is innervated by the lateral cutaneous branches of torso and ventral cutaneous branches....

Torso

Anatomy

Major organs

Major muscle groups

Innervation

See also