= Cortical nephron
A <cortical nephron> is a <nephron> whose <renal corpuscle> lies relatively superficially in the <renal cortex> and whose <Loop of Henle> is usually shorter than that of a <juxtamedullary nephron>. The contrast concerns the position of the corpuscle and the depth of the loop. It does not mean that every part of a cortical nephron is confined to cortical tissue.<Anatomy and Physiology 2e by J. Gordon Betts and others>[Section25.4: cortical and juxtamedullary nephrons]{ref}
A useful reconstruction starts at a <glomerulus> and follows the continuous tubule. A loop can enter the outer <renal medulla> and return to the cortex even though its corpuscle is superficial. A single transverse section through a tubule does not reveal either its complete path or the depth of its originating corpuscle. Thus anatomical tracing provides information beyond simply counting circular profiles in a <histology> image.
Both nephron classes perform <glomerular filtration> and tubular processing. Their different arrangements contribute differently to the medullary concentrating system, rather than dividing the <kidney> into a filtration-only class and a concentration-only class. Studies sampling visible surface tubules must also identify which nephrons are accessible before treating those samples as representative of all nephron types.<Micropuncture study of the mammalian urinary concentrating mechanism: evidence for the countercurrent hypothesis by Carl W. Gottschalk and Margaret Mylle>[Methods,p928: identity and short-loop organization of sampled surface nephrons]{ref}
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