what is a cloaca

A cloaca is a posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts of many vertebrate animals. It is present in amphibians, reptiles, birds, elasmobranch fishes (such as sharks), and monotremes. In female humans, a cloacal malformation is a rare condition where the vagina, urinary tract, and anus do not separate from one another during fetal development, resulting in a single common cavity with one opening from the body. The appearance of the cloaca depends on where and how the three tracts are merged. If they come together at a "low point," the baby does not have a visible anus (opening where feces leave the body), but everything else looks normal. In some animals, mating through the cloaca is known as cloacal copulation, commonly referred to as cloacal kiss.