Purpose: Traditional theories of cloacal embryogenesis assume that the uror
ectal septum fuses with the cloacal membrane before the anal membrane disin
tegrates. However, recent observations in humans and other species raise do
ubt about this assumption. We determined whether urorectal septum fusion oc
curs in rats.
Materials and Methods: Rat embryos were harvested at specific times between
days 11 and 16 of gestation. We evaluated the morphology, growth and relat
ionship of the urorectal septum to the cloacal membrane on serial histologi
cal sections.
Results: The urorectal septum consistently fused with the cloacal membrane
on day 15 of gestation before the cloacal membrane began to disintegrate.
Conclusions: In rats the urorectal septum fuses with the cloacal membrane,
after which the urogenital membrane and anal membrane disintegrate by a pro
cess of apoptosis.