rhizoverbBeta
DictionarycloacaShared bodily outlet
noun

cloaca

kloh-AY-kuh/kloʊˈeɪkə/

A shared opening for the digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems in many animals.

The hen's digestive, urinary, and reproductive tracts join at the cloaca.

A simplified anatomical teaching model of an adult brown hen's terminal tracts, with the shared chamber and single external vent dominating the composition instead of a crowded torso cutaway.
Etymology
cloacaLatinsewer, drain

Latin cloaca meant a sewer or drain. Biology applied that drainage image to the common outlet serving an animal’s digestive, urinary, and reproductive tracts.

In context

Virtual Chicken9:37
the reproductive tract also joins at the cloaca here digestive waste mixes with urinary waste and passes out of the body through the vent
Virtual Chicken: Full Digestive System

More examples

  • In frogs, urine and digestive waste pass through the cloaca.
  • The hen lays an egg through her cloaca.
  • Most mammals do not have a cloaca.

Forms

cloaca · cloacae · cloacas

cloacal adjective — Relating to an animal’s shared bodily outlet.

Similar words

vent
Specifically names the external opening, especially in birds and reptiles.