The text indicates that the digestive tract in vertebrates is ventral to (beneath) the backbone. Yet our digestive tract is in front of our backbone, which is still considered ventral. Why is this an appropriate statement?
A) Terms like ventral that describe spatial relationships between structures are based on a common body plan of a creature who walks on four legs and in that case the digestive track would be ventral to the backbone.
B) Humans have entirely different organ arrangements than any other vertebrates so words like ventral take on entirely different meanings.
C) It is wrong to say that our digestive track is ventral to the backbone.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The statement is appropriate because it is based on the common body plan of vertebrates that walk on four legs, where the digestive tract is ventral to the backbone. Although humans have a different organ arrangement and our digestive tract is in front of the backbone, it is still considered ventral because the term is based on a common body plan.

The Text Indicates That the Digestive Tract in Vertebrates Is