The corpus, also body or shaft of the penis, is the free portion of the
human penis
The human penis is an external male intromittent organ that additionally serves as the urinary duct. The main parts are the root (radix); the body (corpus); and the epithelium of the penis including the shaft skin and the foreskin (prepuce) c ...
that is located outside of the
pelvic cavity
The pelvic cavity is a body cavity that is bounded by the bones of the pelvis. Its oblique roof is the pelvic inlet (the superior opening of the pelvis). Its lower boundary is the pelvic floor.
The pelvic cavity primarily contains the reproduc ...
. It is the continuation of the internal
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...
or ''radix'' which is embedded in the
pelvis and extends to the
glans
The glans (, plural "glandes" ; from the Latin word for "acorn") is a vascular structure located at the tip of the penis in male mammals or a homologous genital structure of the clitoris in female mammals.
Structure
The exterior structure ...
behind which lies the ''neck'' of the penis.
It is made up of the two
corpora cavernosa and the
corpus spongiosum
The corpus spongiosum is the mass of spongy tissue surrounding the male urethra within the penis. It is also called the corpus cavernosum urethrae in older texts.
Anatomy
The proximal part of the corpus spongiosum is expanded to form the ure ...
on the underside. The corpora cavernosa are intimately bound to one another with a dorsally fenestrated
septum which becomes a complete one before the penile crura.
Anatomy
The corpus of the penis is suspended from the
pubic symphysis
The pubic symphysis is a secondary cartilaginous joint between the left and right superior rami of the pubis of the hip bones. It is in front of and below the urinary bladder. In males, the suspensory ligament of the penis attaches to the pubi ...
. As the extension of the root, it is made up of three cylindrical bodies; the corpora cavernosa and the corpus spongiosum which are continuations of the
crura and the
bulb of the penis
In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs durin ...
respectively. It has two surfaces; the ''dorsal'' and the
ventral
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 ...
or ''urethral''. The
penile raphe
The penile raphe is a visible line or ridge of tissue that runs on the ventral side of the human penis beginning from the base of the shaft and ending in the prepuce. The line is typically darker than the rest of the shaft skin, even though its s ...
runs on its ventral surface.
The corpus is surrounded by a bi-layered model of
tunica albuginea in which a distal ligament buttresses the glans penis and plays an integral role to the penile fibroskeleton, and the structure is called "os analog," a term coined by
Geng Long Hsu in the Encyclopedia of Reproduction.
This indispensable structure is a continuation of the body of human penis, differing from other mammalian penis, in that it has no
baculum (or erectile bone) and instead relies exclusively on engorgement with blood to reach its
erect state. It is a remnant of baculum evolved likely due to change in mating practice.
A shallow groove which marks their junction on the upper surface lodges the
deep dorsal vein of the penis
Deep or The Deep may refer to:
Places United States
* Deep Creek (Appomattox River tributary), Virginia
* Deep Creek (Great Salt Lake), Idaho and Utah
* Deep Creek (Mahantango Creek tributary), Pennsylvania
* Deep Creek (Mojave River tributary), ...
which is flanked by a pair of cavernosal veins of the penis,
while a deeper and wider groove between them on the surface below contains the corpus spongiosum. The body is ensheathed by
fascia which includes tunica albuginea,
Buck's fascia,
dermis, and skin.
See also
*
Root of penis
Additional Images
File:Slide12eee.JPG, Dissection of the male human genitalia
File:Slide11rrr.JPG, Dissection of the human thigh
References
Mammal male reproductive system
Human penis anatomy
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