The genitourinary system, or urogenital system, are the sex organs of the reproductive system and the organs of the urinary system. These are grouped together because of their proximity to each other, their common embryological origin and the use of common pathways. Because of this, the systems are sometimes imaged together. In placental mammals (including humans), the male urethra goes through and opens into the penis while the female urethra and vagina empty through the vulva.
The term "apparatus urogenitalis" was used in Nomina Anatomica (under splanchnologia) but is not used in the current Terminologia Anatomica.
Development
The urinary and reproductive organs are developed from the intermediate mesoderm. The permanent organs of the adult are preceded by a set of structures that are purely embryonic and that, with the exception of the ducts, disappear almost entirely before the end of fetal life. These embryonic structures are on either side: the pronephros, the mesonephros and the metanephros of the kidney, and the Wolffian and Müllerian ducts of the sex organ. The pronephros disappears very early; the structural elements of the mesonephros mostly degenerate, but the gonad is developed in their place, with which the Wolffian duct remains as the duct in males, and the Müllerian as that of the female. Some of the tubules of the mesonephros form part of the permanent kidney.
Structures
Urethra
Female Urethra
The urethra of an adult human female is 3-4 cm long. The female urethra is located between the bladder neck to the external urethral orifice and is behind the symphysis pubis.