part of digestive system esophagus AAO:0000145 ANISEED:1235301 Anterior end of the alimentary canal lined with smooth muscle. Bounded anteriorly by a constriction in the pharynx. Bounded posteriorly by and increase in circular and/or longitudinal smooth muscle associated with the stomach.[AAO] BTO:0000959 CALOHA:TS-0700 EFO:0000835 EHDAA2:0001285 EHDAA:2937 EMAPA:16833 EV:0100069 FMA:7131 GAID:291 MA:0000352 MAT:0000048 MESH:A03.365 MIAA:0000048 OpenCyc:Mx4rvVj9Q5wpEbGdrcN5Y29ycA TAO:0000204 The few structural specializations in (adult lampreys) pharynx include complex valves on the external gill openings that direct the tidal flow, and the division of the ancestral pharynx into an oesophagus and a respiratory pharynx.[well established][VHOG] Tube that connects the pharynx to the stomach. In mammals, the oesophagus connects the buccal cavity with the stomach. The stratified squamous non-keratinised epithelium lining the buccal cavity is continued through the pharynx down into the oesophagus. The lowest part of the oesophagus (ca. 2 cm) is lined with gastric mucosa and covered by peritoneum. The main body of the oesophagus is lined with small, simple mucous glands. Each gland opens into the lumen by a long duct which pierces the muscularis mucosae (Wilson and Washington, 1989). A sphincter is situated at the point where the oesophagus enters the stomach to prevent gastro-oesophageal reflux, i.e. to prevent acidic gastric contents from reaching stratified epithelia of the oesophagus, where they can cause inflammation and irritation (Wilson and Washington, 1989; Brown et al., 1993). UMLS:C0014876 VHOG:0000450 XAO:0000127 ZFA:0000204 galen:Esophagus gullet oesophagus digestive system element