gastrula

noun gas·tru·la \ ˈga-strə-lə \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of gastrula

plural gastrulas or gastrulae play \ˈga-strə-ˌlē, -ˌlī\

: an early metazoan embryo in which the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm are established either by invagination of the blastula (as in fish and amphibians) to form a multilayered cellular cup with a blastopore opening into the archenteron or by differentiation of the blastodisc (as in reptiles, birds, and mammals) and inward cellular migration — compare blastula, morula

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gastrular

play \ˈga-strə-lər\ adjective

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Origin and Etymology of gastrula

borrowed from New Latin (originally in a German context), from Greek gastr-, gastḗr "belly, stomach" + New Latin -ula (as in planula — more at gastro-

Note: Word introduced by Ernst haeckel in Die Kalkschwämme, Band 1 (Berlin, 1872): "Mit dem Namen Gastrula oder Magenlarve belege ich denjenigen Entwickelungs-Zustand, welcher bei den Kalkschwämmen zunächst aus der Planula hervorgeht, und welcher meiner Meinung nach wegen seiner weiten Verbreitung bei den verschiedensten Thieren eine ausserordentlich grosse Bedeutung für die generelle Phylogenie des Thierreichs besitzt. Ich verstehe unter Gastrula eine kugeligen oder sphäroidalen, eiförmigen oder länglich runden Körper, welcher eine innere Höhle mit einer äusseren Oeffnung (primordialen Magenhöhle mit Mundöffnung) enthält…" (pp. 332-33). ("I designate by gastrula or stomach larva that developmental state which among calcareous sponges emerges at first from the planula, and which in my opinion possesses an extraordinarily great significance for the general phylogeny of the animal kingdom on account of its wide distribution among the most diverse animals. I understand by gastrula a globular or spheroidal, ovate or oblong body, which contains an inner cavity with an outer opening (primordial stomach cavity with mouth opening)…") Haeckel clearly modeled the word on planula—here used more or less with the meaning of the later term blastula—and thought of -ula as a suffix denoting a larval or developmental stage.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1876

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

Medical Dictionary

gastrula

noun gas·tru·la \ ˈgas-trə-lə \

medical Definition of gastrula

plural gastrulas or gastrulae play \-ˌlē, -ˌlī\

: an early metazoan embryo in which the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm are established either by invagination of the blastula (as in fish and amphibians) to form a multilayered cellular cup with a blastopore opening into the archenteron or (as in reptiles, birds, and mammals) by differentiation of the upper layer of the blastodisc into the ectoderm and the lower layer into the endoderm and by the inward migration of cells through the primitive streak to form the mesoderm — compare morula

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