The choanae (singular choana), posterior nasal apertures or internal nostrils are two openings found at the back of the nasal passage between the nasal cavity and the throat in tetrapods, including humans and other mammals (as well as crocodilians and most skinks). They are considered one of the most important

synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

of tetrapodomorphs, that allowed the passage from water to land. In animals with secondary palates, they allow breathing when the mouth is closed. Janvier, Philippe (2004) "Wandering nostrils". ''Nature'', 432 (7013): 23–24. In tetrapods without secondary palates their function relates primarily to olfaction (sense of smell). The choanae are separated in two by the

vomer The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxill ...

Boundaries

A choana is the opening between the nasal cavity and the nasopharynx. It is therefore not a structure but a space bounded as follows: *

anteriorly Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

and

inferiorly Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

by the

horizontal plate The horizontal plate of palatine bone is a quadrilateral part of the palatine bone, and has two surfaces and four borders. Surfaces The superior surface, concave from side to side, forms the back part of the floor of the nasal cavity. The inf ...

palatine bone In anatomy, the palatine bones () are two irregular bones of the facial skeleton in many animal species, located above the uvula in the throat. Together with the maxillae, they comprise the hard palate. (''Palate'' is derived from the Latin ''pa ...

, * superiorly and posteriorly by the

sphenoid bone The sphenoid bone is an unpaired bone of the neurocranium. It is situated in the middle of the skull towards the front, in front of the basilar part of occipital bone, basilar part of the occipital bone. The sphenoid bone is one of the seven bones ...

* laterally by the medial pterygoid plates. * medially by the Vomer

Etymology

The term is a latinization from the Greek χοάνη, "choanē" meaning funnel.

Choanae in different animals

Early bony fishes (~420 mya) had two pair of nostrils, one pair for incoming water (known as the anterior or incurrent nostrils), and a second pair for outgoing water (the posterior or excurrent nostrils), with the olfactory apparatus (for sense of smell) in between. In the first tetrapodomorphs (~415 mya) the excurrent nostrils migrated to the edge of the mouth, occupying a position between the maxillary and premaxillary bones, directly below the lateral rostral (a bone that vanished in early tetrapods). In all but the most basal (primitive) tetrapodomorphs (or "choanates"), the excurrent nostrils have migrated from the edge of the mouth to the interior of the mouth. In tetrapods that lack a secondary palate (basal tetrapods and amphibians), the choanae are located forward in the roof of the mouth, just inside the upper jaw. These internal nasal passages evolved while the vertebrates still lived in water. In animals with complete secondary palates (mammals, crocodilians, most skinks) the space between the primary and secondary palates contain the nasal passages, with the choanae located above the posterior end of the secondary palate. In animals with partial secondary palates (most birds and reptiles), the median ''choanal slit'' separates the two halves of the posterior half of the palate, connecting the nasal cavity with the buccal cavity (mouth) and the pharynx (throat).

Fish

Most fish do not have choanae, instead they have two pairs of external nostrils: each with two tubes whose frontal openings lie close to the upper jaw, and the posterior openings further behind near the eyes. A 395-million-year-old fossil lobe-finned fish called '' Kenichthys'' ''campbelli'' has something between a choana and the external nostrils seen on other fish. The posterior opening of the external nostrils has migrated into the mouth. In lungfish, the inner nostrils are regarded as an example of parallel evolution. The fossil lungfish '' Diabolepis'' shows an intermediate stage between posterior and interior nostril and supports the independent origin of internal nostrils in the lungfish. Hagfishes have a single internal nostril that opens inside the mouth cavity, while

chimaera Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively. At ...

s have open canals that leads water from their external nostrils into their mouths and through their gills.

References

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