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Mesonephros (400X)

Microimage
Chicken embryo 5 weeks gestation. Image copyright: University of Oslo, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. (Tissue stain: H+E).

The mesonephros acts as a structure similar to the kidney that, in humans, functions between the sixth and tenth weeks of embryological life. Despite the similarity in structure, function, and terminology, however, the mesonephric nephrons do not form any part of the mature kidney or nephrons in humans. In this image you can see:

  • Mesonephric tubules are genital ridges that are next to the mesonephros.
  • ductus mesonephricus (also known as the Wolffian duct, archinephric duct, Leydig's duct or nephric duct)
Published May 6th 2019, updated May 19th 2019.