The
cavernous portion of the urethra is narrow, and of uniform size in the body of the
penis, measuring about 6 mm in diameter; it is dilated behind, within the
bulb
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 duri ...
, and again anteriorly within the
glans penis, where it forms the fossa navicularis urethrae.
The navicular fossa is the spongy part of the male urethra located at the glans penis portion. It is essentially the part right before the
external urethral orifice
The urinary meatus, (, ) also known as the external urethral orifice, is the opening of the urethra. It is the point where urine exits the urethra in both sexes and where semen exits the urethra in males. The meatus has varying degrees of sensiti ...
. It is lined by stratified squamous, non-keratinizing epithelium when viewed histologically.
During development, the glans of the penis is initially solid but cannulates to give rise to the navicular fossa.
References
External links
* - "The Male Pelvis: The Urethra"
*
{{Portal bar, Anatomy
Male urethra