Rat Dissection Zhong

Making the first incision

Last week in Biology class, we took part in a rat dissection, probably my favorite dissection in class because it required for two more group members than the average dissection and because although the insides of a worm and squid are simplistic, the rat's organs look like a jumble of redness and guts, which makes it an interesting puzzle to differentiate how such a mass could function. The rat dissection was done to understand how the circulatory, digestive and excretory system worked. It was also done to compare between the female and male rat. I was nervous going into the dissection because my group had the largest female rat and Lyon was afriad that the female rat was pregnant. In a summer school past, my friend had opened up a similar rat and discovered a dozen pink babies inside it. I was also worried that I would contract cancer or something if I breathed it in.

Before the investigation

However, everything went smoothly. The rat's positioning made it loo like it was raising it's hands to the roof. It was yellow because it had been dipped into alcohol to preserve it, but was very deep and red on the inside. Its coarse tail, made of some strange material, was a little over 16 cm! The twelve nipples on the female rat were the biggest surprise! Although both male and female rats have an adrenal gland and a kidney, females have a uterus and males have a prostate, just like humans. The rat's heart on the diagram looked like a human heart as well. Later on, doing the criticial thinking questions, it felt like when I was talking about the organs of the rat, I was speaking truths about the human body as well. All in all, I thouroughly enjoyed the dissection because it was well-paced and allowed for as much investigation as one pleased, cutting through whatever, sawing through ribs, feeling like a surgeon. I wish every student in BC could do this dissection just so they would either be thrilled, or throw up, whichever comes first.


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1. Your hands can control things the most. Motor skills are key.

2. This lets you know where things are located in the body. This can be useful especially for the digestive system.

3. The tail retains the balance of the rat and helps with traction. They are used to regulate their body temperatures as well.

4. The vibrassae, the stiff hairs around the nose of the animal, commonly known as whiskers, are used as feelers.

5. Being bilaterally symmetrical means my rat is highly evolved compared to anemones or bivalves.

Opened up. 

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1. The sphincter controls the passage of material which open and close.

2. The large intestine's job is to absorb water and salts from the materials that have not yet been digested and gets rid of excess waste. However, the small intestine does most of the absorbing--taking in nutrients and salts.

3. Every nutrient passes through the liver so that it may be transformed for easy usage of the body.

4. Duodenum is a latin name, meaning 12 finger-length, meaning that the duodenum, at least the human one, is about 20 cm.

5. The appendix digests cellulose.

Rat Vagina

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1. The wall of the body cavities are lined with a thin, moist membrane called the peritoneum, which is responsible for keeping the organs in place and not sliding away.

2. The speen removes useless red blood cells and replaces them with lymphocytes.

3. The diaphragm raises the chest cavity and helps the lungs with breathing.

4. The atria hold blood which receives the blood. It goes the ventricle which does the pumping, the left pumping oxygenated and the right pumping deoxygenated.

5. The left ventricle pumps blood against the pressure of the aorta, facing more resistance.

6. Both are homologuous. They both mature at the same rate. Both have gonads and secrete sex hormones.

7. Body fluids are controlled by the kidneys.

Intestines

8. The Thyroid, thymus and adrenal gland are part of the endocrine system. The thyroid is found in the neck and takes in iodine just to convert them into thyroid hormones. The thymus is another gland which produces T-cells. The adrenal gland also releases hormones to combat stress.

Help me

Our Dissected Rat
Without Intestines

Labelled Dissected Rat