Where it is
In the cranial and ventral mediastinum, in front of the heart.
- Layer
- Organs
- System
- Immune and lymphatic system
- Region
- Thorax
What it is and what it does
The thymus is a two-lobed organ of the mediastinum, placed cranial and ventral to the heart. Its size depends on age: it is large in young animals, when immune function is being built, and shrinks gradually with age, so that in the adult it can be hard to find. The drawing shows it at the size of a puppy's.
Worth remembering
In the adult it can be hard to find; the drawing shows it at the size of a puppy's.
Names
- Latin term: thymus.
- In Romanian: Timusul (Romanian page).