DISSECTION OF A PIG

We took a dissection class of a pig. Our group consists of Kesmat Hailu, Jacob Julien, Priscillia

Dahn and Olanrewaju Isiaka. It was pretty amazing experiment because we learned a lot during

this dissection. We had an experience of inner parts of pig which we didn’t see before.

What We Did And Felt.

Our dissection last for three days. On the first day the group determined the sex of the pig, male,

and that it had four toes and some baby teeth. On second day, we finally started the dissection

and began by cutting open the esophagus and the mouth. This allowed us to examine the soft and

hard palate, as well as the digestive system, then we got to explore the cardio and then we cut

open the kidneys and heart. We got to see the tubes and how everything was connected together.

On the third day we got to pull away the skin and tissue to examine the internal muscles, this was

the nervous system and skeletal system. Then we cut through the skull in order to examine in the

brain. At last, we extracted the eye and took it apart that way we could see the lens and how

everything worked in the eye.

The group believes that this lab was very influential because we had done by our hands that will

increase our understanding of not only the fetal pig but its dissection as a whole.

Positioning the pig for dissection

Place the fetal pig on a dissecting tray ventral (belly) side up. Use three or four rubber

band to tie the right hind leg all around the ankle. Run the rubber bands around the

under side of the tray and tie the left hind leg. Repeat again for the forelegs.
SYSTEMS IN A FETAL PIG.

•Respiratory system :

The respiratory system consist of the following Structures.

• Larynx: It is composed of cartilage and contains the vocal cords.

• Trachea: It contains C-shaped cartilaginous rings.

• Bronchi: It branches to form the two primary bronchi.

• Vocal cords: It is seen on each side after making a mid-central incision in larynx.

• Bronchioles: dissect along bronchus to view branching as it enters the lung.

Digestive System:

As we noticed the digestive system consists of the following parts:

• Liver: It is large, multilobed structure under the lungs and diaphragm.

•Gall bladder: It lift up the lobes of the liver on the right side to find the small, green, saclike

organ.

• Stomach: It is a saclike organ under the liver on the left side of the abdomen.

• Duodenum: It is the first part of the small intestine attached to the right side of the stomach.
• Pancreas: It begins in the loop between the stomach and duodenum and ends near

the spleen.

• Jejunum & Ileum: It is the coiled remainder of the small intestine

• Cecum: It is present at the junction of the ileum and colon.

• Colon (large intestine): It is darker, thicker, coiled (large) intestine.

• Rectum: It is the last part large intestine leading to the anus.

•Circulatory System.

There are some differences between the circulatory system of an adult

pig and a fetal pig, besides from the umbilical arteries and vein which are almost the same.

There is a shunt between the wall of the right and left atrium called the foramen ovale. This

allows blood to go directly from the right atrium to left atrium. Ductus arteries are also

present that allows blood from the right atrium to be shifted to the aortic arch. As u know that

both of these shunts close just a few minutes after birth.

•Reproductive System.

Male fetal pigs have urogenital opening located behind the umbilical

cord. The swelling behind the hind legs of the fetal pig is the scrotum. The male's internal

reproductive system has two scrotal sacs, which depends on the age of the fetal pig. It may or

may not have developed testes mostly depends upon the age. It consists of the following

parts.

• Testes: These are located within the scrotum (external pouch).

• Epididymis: It begins at anterior margin of testis extends to form vas deferens.

• Vas deferens: It extends anteriorly from scrotum and loops over ureter to enter

the urethra.

• Urogenital opening: It is present just posterior to umbilical cord in body wall containing

the urinary bladder.

• Penis: It extends posteriorly from urogenital opening.

•Urinary System. The main structure in the urinary system of the fetal pig was also kidney

just like human being. It also consists of the following other parts:

•Kidneys. We carefully moved the intestines aside to see the large bean-shaped kidneys (one

on each side) covered in a shiny membrane.

•Gall Bladder. Then we gently lift the liver and saw the round gall bladder imbedded in the

underside of the lobe to which umbilical cord was attached.

•Urinary Bladder. It is present between the blood vessels in the umbilical cord. It is the long,

flat bladder.

• Urethra: The urinary bladder narrows posteriorly to form urethra entering into the pelvic

cavity.

Similarities between human beings and pig:

Pigs and humans share almost the same physiological and anatomical similarities when it

comes to certain organs such as skin, the brain and also the heart. Medical professionals
have used pig skin to replace human skin when performing skin grafts and pig heart valves to

replace human heart valves. A pig weighing around 65 kilograms is similar to a human body

in many ways, including fat distribution, cover of hair and ability to attract insects. For this

reason, pigs have been used in medical research for over 25 years, and that is known as

translational research model. This means that if something works in a pig, it has a higher

possibility of working in a human. So, if you short when you laugh or pig out at dinner, don’t

worry—you’re still human.

Differences between human beings and pig:

1) The pig has a spiral colon.

1) A human has a sigmoid colon.

2) Pigs have 4 lobes in the right lung and 2 lobes in the left lung.

2) Humans have 3 lobes in the right lung and 2 lobes in the left lung.

3) A pig's heart is more valtine shaped.

3) A human's heart is shaped more like a trapezoid.

Conclusion
For three days we explored a different system inside the fetal pig. In all days we observed the

almost all the systems of the fetal pig and about their similarities and differences with the

humans. It was extremely beneficial for the group to observe and feel all the glands and

organs in these systems.