A thirteenth cranial nerve: the cloacal nerve.
The completion by vertebrates of micturition, defecation, and copulation via the cloaca or its derivatives is hypothesized to be best explained by the existence of a thirteenth cranial nerve, the cloacal nerve, which, similar to the facial and trigeminal nerves, functions as a mixed cranial nerve containing both general and special components.
Graber
B
B
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 68106-1065.
D000818:Animals; D002988:Cloaca / Q000294:innervation*; D003391:Cranial Nerves; D003672:Defecation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D014554:Urination