In this lab we dissected a fetal pig. The purpose of this lab was for us to understand the physiology of another organism and see how it their organs and organ systems relate to those of humans, as they are both mammals. I was able to learn a lot through this lab, and it really helped me compare the pig’s anatomy to a human’s anatomy, and relate the concepts learned through this labs to the vodcasts that we are currently doing in class.
The external anatomy of the pig contained its wrists, shoulders, digits, thoracic cavity, and abdominal cavities. THis is similar to our external anatomy, as our wrists and shoulders are used for the similar purposes and we have fingers like the pig’s digits. We also have thoracic and abdominal cavities. In regards to the digestive system, we have nearly all of the same organs as the fetal pig, included the esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, small and large intestine as well as the rectum. There are a few differences between the liver of humans and pigs - The human liver has 4 lobes, while the pig liver has 5. Interestingly, there is no food in the stomach of the pig, mainly because it is a fetus.
This is similar for the respiratory, circulatory and reproductive systems. All the primary organs of these systems, ie. the lungs, diaphragm, heart, coronary artery, kidneys ureters, bladder, etc. This is mainly how I relate to what we have learned in this unit, and the striking similarities between the pig and human anatomy, solidified my understanding of the material taught.
My favorite part of this lab was probably analyzing the pig and its organs. It was really interesting to see what was in some of the organs that the functions of each part. Inside the heart we were able to see the ventricles and atria. In my opinion this dissection is a very valuable learning experience for many students, because it really helped me connect the dots of everything that we have been learning throughout our unit vodcasts.
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