Juhnke

Leal

Rodriguez

Munoz

Johnston

Gross Anatomy of Dissected Fetal Pig and Main Organs

Introduction

The Purpose of this project was to see firsthand how organ systems are
interconnected using a fetal pig as the object of dissection. Working as a team, we
were able to identify what certain organs were and where they were located inside
the fetal pig. We removed many organs and took their measurements. As a result of
this experiment, we had a better understanding of anatomy and organ systems.

The history of dissections as a means of learning goes back as far as the

Greeks in the third century. At certain time frames in history, human dissections
were illegal. In England, dissections were prohibited until the Murder Act of 1752, in
which the bodies of executed criminals were used as cadavers for anatomical
research. The number of cadavers decreased in the 19th century, and the result of
this was a black market arose for cadavers and body parts. People would end up
being ‘body snatched’ for their bodies to be sold to anatomists. Today, despite the
interactive computer programs and activities, dissections are commonly used in
schools, Universities and colleges as a way to learning about the body structures of
invertebrates and vertebrates.

Materials and Methods

Before we started the dissection, we noticed certain characteristics about the

pig. It had cold, rough skin with tiny hairs sticking out all over its body. It was a
female pig and had 16 nipples. Because it was a fetal pig, it had after birth tissue on
it and still had a small portion of the umbilical cord attached to it that was about
seven inches long. We weighed the pig and it was about three pounds. Its tongue
was exposed from its mouth, and we counted that it had only seven teeth. It had
chipped nails and fluid coming out of its nose. The thoracic and abdominal regions
were hard, it had slight bruising on its body and its head was cut open on its left
side, as well as having a cut on its neck. Its legs measured at five inches and its tail
was three inches long.

To prepare for the dissection, we tied the pigs’ limbs down behind and
around the wax tray we used during the dissection. We pinned the limbs down into
the wax tray, to keep the chest and abdominal areas of the pig exposed.
 Using a scalpel, we made the first incision from middle of the thoracic region
to the bottom of the thoracic region. We cut through the ribs and chest muscles
using scissors and pushed the skin out of the way with our fingers. At this point, we
could see the heart of the fetal pig through the pericardial sac. We then proceeded
to remove the pericardial sac to expose the heart. When we did this, a clear-ish
yellow fluid came out from around and below the heart. We sucked up the fluid and
put it in a beaker using a pipette. After this was done, we proceeded to pull out
smaller clear thin tissue, and then some more of the same fluid squirted out at us.
We then pressed down on the lower abdomen, sucking out most of the fluid. Then,
to get to the heart, we started to tear the tissue on the right side of the heart, and
more fluid came out and around the heart at us, this time a darker yellow. We
sucked out the fluid and started to cut and pull off the muscle tissue using the
scalpel. We then extended the incision from the chin to the middle of the thorax. At
this point we were ready to start removing the heart. We cut the arteries and the
veins, and lifted the heart out. We then cut the heart on its frontal plane and saw all
of the chambers in the heart.

After the heart was taken out, we could see the lungs and the trachea leading
to the lungs. We then found the thyroid gland and removed that. After this we
continued to remove organs in the upper chest region and
abdominal and lower abdominal regions.

Results

As we removed the organs, we recorded their

lengths and widths. The left lungs’ dimensions were three
inches in length by two and a half inches in width. All
together, the lungs lengths were still three inches, but in width it was three and a
half inches. We then removed the left kidney, and it was one and a half inches in
length and .5 inches in width. The other organs that we removed included the
stomach, liver, large and small intestines, gall bladder, kidneys, pancreas and they
ranged in size between .5 inches up to 3.5 inches in width and 1.5 up to 3 inches in
length. OnceLungs
all of the organs were removed, we were able to see the spinal column
and the nerves that split off from the spinal column.

Discussion

After this experiment, we had a much better understanding of how organ

systems worked, and how they were arranged inside of a body. It showed us that
the systems of the body were integrated and that it worked in a very efficient
manner.

References

"Dissection." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Oct 2008, 14:36 UTC. 22 Oct
2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dissection&oldid=244377215>
 Results (page 2)

Heart

Organs (from left to right)

Lungs, Heart, Liver, Stomach,
Pancreas, Small and Large
Intestines, Umbilical cord (at
top) Kidneys (at bottom)

Pig at the end of the

experiment