The opening in an embryo during early development that forms during gastrulation and becomes the mouth or anus of the developing animal.
From Greek 'blastos' (bud, germ) + 'poros' (pore, opening). Coined in 1870s by German embryologist Wilhelm Roux to describe this crucial developmental opening.
Your mouth and your anus are actually the same structure from an evolutionary perspective—the blastopore! In some animals it becomes the mouth, in others the anus. This single shared structure helped scientists understand how all animals are related.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.