You are looking at a slide of an unknown organ that has an empty lumen with stratified squamous epithelium contacting the lumen.
Deep to the epithelium is a basement membrane and then two layers of smooth muscle. Which of the following organs would this most likely belong to and why? A) The intestines because they need to move food along and absorb digested products.
B) The liver because it secretes enzymes and bile and needs to move them to the gallbladder.
C) The esophagus because it is a passageway that needs to move but not absorb food products.
D) The urinary bladder because it needs to stretch and constrict to store and eliminate urine.
The esophagus has an empty lumen with stratified squamous epithelium contacting the lumen and deep to the epithelium is a basement membrane and then two layers of smooth muscle. The esophagus is a long muscular tube that connects the pharynx to the stomach. This structure keeps food and secretions from going going down the windpipe without absorbing the products. It is the least complex section of the digestive tube which plays the role of conveying boluses of food from the pharynx to the stomach. Absorption in the esophagus is virtually absent.
