Name:______________________________

What Mammalian Characteristics can be observed in a Fetal Pig?

Mammals are vertebrates having hair on their body and mammary glands to nourish their young.
The majority of them are placental mammals. In placental mammals the developing young
mammal, or fetus, grows inside the females uterus while attached to a placenta. The placenta is
the source of food and oxygen for the fetus and also serves to get rid of fetal wastes.
Objective: In this exercise you will examine the organization of the many body systems studied
this semester in the context of a single specimen, the fetal pig. You will identify important
external structures, structures associated with the digestive, circulatory and urogenital systems
Procedure:
1. Obtain disposable gloves, safety glasses, dissecting tray and equipment, and a fetal pig.
2. With safety glasses and gloves on, remove the pig from its bag and lay the pig on a dissecting
tray. Pour the preserving solution down the sink drain. Thoroughly rinse the excess
preservative off of the pig.
3. Place the pig in the dissecting tray. Review the directional terms for the pig in Figure 1.
Anterior is toward the head end of the pig.

Posterior is toward the tail end of the pig.

Dorsal is toward the back surface.
Ventral is toward the belly surface.
Lateral is toward the side of the body
4. Locate the major body regions on your pig. On the drawing below, label the following:
dorsal surface
anterior end
head
thorax
forelimb
tail
ventral surface
posterior end
neck
abdomen
hindlimb
umbilical cord

5.

Identify two external features that indicate that the pig is a mammal.
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6. These specimens are unborn pigs taken from pregnant females at a slaughter house.
Gestation for the fetal pig is 112-115 days. The length of the fetal pig can give you a rough
estimate of its age.
11mm - 21 days
17 mm - 35 days
2.8 cm - 49 days
4 cm - 56 days
22 cm - 100 days
>30 cm -- birth
Measure your pig from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. What is the age of your fetal
pig?
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7. Identify the four sense organs located on the head.
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8. How many toes are located on each foot?
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9. Are the hooves split or fused?
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10.Males have a urogenital opening, the opening for the penis, which is posterior to the umbilical
cord. The scrotum (small bulges) is anterior to the anus. Females also have a urogenital
opening located anterior to the anus. The opening is enclosed by small folds called labia that
form a projection called the genital papilla. Figure 2.

What is the sex of your fetal pig?

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11.Tie a string to each leg and wrap the string around the dissecting tray such that the pig is
stretched as much as possible.

12.Locate the umbilical

the cord about 1 cm from

cord. With scissors, cut across

the body. Examine the 3

openings in the umbilical cord. The largest is the umbilical vein, which carries blood from the
placenta to the fetus. The two smaller openings are the umbilical arteries which carry blood
from the fetus to the placenta.
13.With scissors, make a 1-cm incision in each corner of the pig's mouth. Your incision should
extend posteriorly through the jaw.
14.Spread the jaws open and examine the tongue. Note the tiny projections on the tongue called
sensory papillae.
What do you suppose is the function of the sensory papillae?

15.Locate the epiglottis, a cone-shaped structure at the back of the mouth. Above the
epiglottis, find the round opening of the nasopharynx. This cavity carries air from the
nostrils to the trachea, a large tube in the thoracic which supplies air to the lungs.
What is the function of the epiglottis?

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16. Dorsal to the glottis, find the opening to the esophagus.
17.Examine the teeth of the pig. Canine teeth are longer for tearing food, while incisor are
shorter and used for biting. Pigs are omnivores, eating plants and animals.
Digestive System
16.Using sharp scissors or scalpel, make a small incision through the abdominal skin and muscle
about -inch above the umbilical cord. IMPORTANT: Do not use the scalpel for further
dissection work today. Use scissors to continue cutting along the midsagittal line on the
ventral surface (INCISION 1), first cutting upward toward the neck. STOP cutting at the
bottom of the ribs, leaving the diaphragm intact. You will continue this incision upward when
investigating the thoracic cavity. Figure 5
Be careful not to cut any underlying organs. Always cut away from yourself when using
scissors for better control.
17.Rotate the dissecting pan as necessary for better access. Turn the tray around and cut down
to the caudal (tail) end of the pelvic region, leaving - inch border around the umbilical cord.
This step is important to prevent cutting of the umbilical vein and arteries in the abdominal
cavity.
18.Continue the midsagittal cut down into the pelvic region. Cut around the other side of the
umbilical cord (INCISION 2), again leaving about a -inch border. Stop your cut about one
inch short of the anus.

19.Make the two lateral incisions just in front of the hind legs
(INCISION 4). If you
have a male pig, cutting off-center ensures that you do not cut the
penis, which is
incompletely formed in the fetal pig and appears as a thickened
tube within the
skin of the lower abdominopelvic area.
20.You should now be able to peel open the left and right
flaps of the ventral body wall like a book.
21.Locate the dark-reddish brown liver, the largest organ in
the
abdominal cavity. Notice the liver is divided into lobes.
How many lobes does the liver have?
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22.Raise the right lobe of the liver and locate the gall bladder, a
small
greenish sac partly embedded under the liver. The
gall
bladder stores bile, a secretion of the liver that functions in the
digestion of
fats. Find the bile duct that carries bile from the gall
bladder to
the small intestine.
23.Look under the left lobe of the liver and locate the
stomach, a large saclike organ. Find the esophagus
which joins the stomach at the anterior end. Then locate
the
beginning of the small intestine at the other end of the
stomach.
24.With scissors cut the stomach open lengthwise. Use a probe to locate the pyloric valve where
the stomach and small intestine join and the cardiac valve that separates the esophagus from
the stomach.
25.Identify the functions of the pyloric valve at the bottom of the stomach and the cardiac valve
at the top of the stomach.
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26.Explain why there is no food in the stomach. What is the food source for the fetal pig?
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27.Locate the long reddish brown spleen along the right edge of the stomach. Although the
spleen is located in the abdominal cavity, it is not a digestive organ. The spleen stores blood
and breaks down worn out red blood cells. It is an organ of the immune system.
28.Locate the whitish pancreas lying directly below the stomach. The pancreas is held in place
by thin tissue called mesentery. The pancreas secretes digestive enzymes into the small
intestine through the pancreatic duct.
29.Notice the coiled small intestine. This organ completes digestion and absorbs the digested
food into the bloodstream. The first 3-4 cm of the small intestine is called the duodenum.
Follow the small intestine from the duodenum to the large intestine. Notice that it is held in
place by mesentery. Notice the many blood vessesl running through the mesentery.
30.Describe the functions of the many blood vessels in the mesentery.
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31.Locate the cecum, a fingerlike pouch at the beginning of the large intestine. What structure
in humans is homologous to the cecum?
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32.Using scissors, remove the liver, stomach, intestines, spleen and pancreas. Uncoil the small
intestine and measure its length in centimeters.
33.Measure and record the length of the small intestine.
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Estimate the length of the large intestine (do not try to unravel the large intestine).
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How do these two structures compare in diameter?
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34.Observe the prepared cross section of the small intestine. Describe the appearance of the
inner lining of the small intestine. What is the function of the small fingerlike structures you
observed?
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35.Label the eleven structures indicated by the lines in the drawing below.

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
36. Continue the incision toward the anterior end from the bottom of the ribs, cutting through the
ribs. Be careful not to cut through the organs in the cavity. Notice the muscular diaphragm
that separates the abdominal and thoracic cavities
Identify the two major organs that occupy the thoracic
cavity._________________________________________
37.The thoracic cavity is divided into left and right pleural cavities containing the lungs. What is
the function of the lungs?
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38.
T
he heart can be found enclosed in the pericardial sac attached to the diaphragm. Remove
this sac to expose the heart. The thymus gland may also partially cover the heart. Identify
the four chambers found in the mammalian heart. The right and left atria, on the top, collect
blood as it enters the heart. The lower chambers, the right and left ventricles, pump blood to
the lungs and the body. What differences can be observed in the structure of the atria and the
ventricles?
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39.
L
ocate the two large veins that enter the right atrium. These veins are the anterior and
posterior vena cava, which return blood to the heart from the anterior and posterior parts of
the body.
40.
F
ind the pulmonary artery, which leaves the right ventricle to bring blood to the lungs. Trace it
to the point where it branches to each lung. Into which chamber of the heart do the
pulmonary veins enter?
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41.
U
nder the pulmonary artery locate the aorta. This large artery carries blood from the heart to
the body. Locate the ductus arteriosus which allows blood to bypass the lungs before birth.
42.
W
hat is the function of the ductus arteriosus in a fetal mammal and why is it necessary?
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43.
L
ocate the coronary arteries and veins on the surface of the heart. Describe the functions of
the coronary blood vessels (arteries and veins).
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44.
U
sing scissors, cut the heart from the body and remove the heart. Cut the heart in half along
the midline. Study the internal anatomy of the heart. Locate the four chambers and the
valves between chambers that control blood flow. Which chamber contains the thickest, most
muscular wall? Explain why.
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45.
abel the structures indicated by the lines in the drawing below.

Fetal Pig Heart

46.Describe the path of blood through the heart, lungs and body starting with the right atrium.
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47.In the neck region, locate the larynx (voice box) which is composed of cartilage and contains
the vocal cords. The trachea (windpipe) extends posteriorly from the larynx and splits dorsal
to the heart to form the bronchi that enter the lungs. These structures are more clearly visible
after the heart has been removed. Esophagus: carefully remove the connective tissue
supporting the trachea so that you can move the trachea to one side to expose the
esophagus located dorsal to it.
48.How does the structure of the trachea keep it open and prevent it from collapsing?
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49.What is the function of the epiglottis?
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UROGENITAL

SYSTEM

50.Dissect away surrounding tissue to expose the:

Adrenal glands: on anterior surface of each kidney
Kidneys: against dorsal body wall
Ureters: originate on medial surface of kidney, near renal vessels
Urinary bladder: follow both ureters posteriorly into the urinary bladder
Urethra: urinary bladder narrows
51.REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM: MALE
Testes: locate the testes within the scrotum (external pouch). Carefully cut open the
scrotum to expose a testis.
Epididymis: begins at anterior margin of testis extends to form vas deferens
Vas deferens: extends anteriorly from scrotum and loops over ureter to enter urethra
Urogenital opening: just posterior to umbilical cord in reflected flap of body wall containing
the urinary bladder
Penis: extends posteriorly from urogenital opening
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM: FEMALE
Uterus & uterine tubes (horns): located dorsal to urinary bladder and ventral to the
descending colon (LI)
Ovaries: follow uterine tubes anterolaterally to the ovaries located just posterior to kidneys
Vagina: just dorsal to urethra; extends posteriorly from body of uterus

Extension

Questions:

52.What would happen to the fetal pig if the ductus arteriosus did not close at birth?
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53.List three characteristics of a mammal observed in the fetal pig.
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54.Why is dissecting the fetal pig an important learning experience?
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