MICROANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -Dorsal and ventral refer to “up and down” directions with the animal in a standing position. Dorsal or superior means towards the back (top surface) of a standing animal and ventral or inferior means towards the belly (bottom) of a standing animal.

Detailed explanation-2: -The ventral area of anything, plant or animal, is its underside. In directional terms, the ventral side is the area forward from (or under) the spinal cord. The word comes from the Latin noun venter, which meant “belly, ‘’ which lent its meaning to ventrālis, which referred to anything pertaining to the belly area.

Detailed explanation-3: -The ventral surface refers to the front, or lower side, of an organism. For example, in a fish, the pectoral fins are dorsal to the anal fin, but ventral to the dorsal fin.

Detailed explanation-4: -The terms dorsal and ventral are also often used to describe the relative location of a body part. For example, the stomach is ventral to the spinal cord, which means that the stomach is located in front of the spinal cord.