Development of the anal canal muscles

The anal canal muscles development is studied in 18 human embryos. The external anal sphincter results to origin common with the urogenital sphincter from the cloacal sphincter. The muscle, after its appearance, is subdivided into two portions from a thin mesenchymal layer. Moreover, our embryologic study clearly confirms that the puborectalis muscle is a portion of the levator ani, its primordium being common with the ileo and the pubococcygeus muscles. The anal smooth musculature appears later than the striated one.