Colon (anatomy)

In the anatomy of the digestive system, the colon is a part of the intestine, but very often is incorrectly used in the meaning of the whole large intestine altogether; it is really only the biggest part of the large intestine. The main function of the colon appears to be extraction of water from feces. In mammals, it consists of the ascending colon, transverse colon, the descending colon, and the sigmoid colon. The colon from cecum to the mid-transverse colon is also known as the right colon. The remainder is known as the left colon.