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5noend9/nervoussystem-of-a-frog/Frog
Dissection
Pictures: Modern Biology, Holt

Background:

As members of the class Amphibia, frogs may live some of their

adult lives on land, but they must return to water to reproduce.
Eggs are laid and fertilized in water. On the outside of the frogs
head are two external nares, or nostrils; two tympani, or eardrums;
and two eyes, each of which has three lids. The third lid, called the
nictitating membrane, is transparent. Inside the mouth are two
internal nares, or openings into the nostrils; two vomerine teeth in
the middle of the roof of the mouth; and two maxillary teeth at
the sides of the mouth. Also inside the mouth behind the tongue is
the pharynx, or throat.
In the pharynx, there are several openings: one into the esophagus,
the tube into which food is swallowed; one into the glottis, through
which air enters the larynx, or voice box; and two into the
Eustachian tubes, which connect the pharynx to the ear. The
digestive system consists of the organs of the digestive tract, or
food tube, and the digestive glands. From the esophagus,
swallowed food moves into the stomach and then into the small
intestine. Bile is a digestive juice made by the liver and stored in

the gallbladder. Bile flows into a tube called the common bile duct,
into which pancreatic juice, a digestive juice from the pancreas,
also flows. The contents of the common bile duct flow into the small
intestine, where most of the digestion and absorption of food into
the bloodstream takes place.
Indigestible materials pass through the large intestine and then
into the cloaca, the common exit chamber of the digestive,
excretory, and reproductive systems. The respiratory system
consists of the nostrils and the larynx, which opens into two lungs,
hollow sacs with thin walls. The walls of the lungs are filled with
capillaries, which are microscopic blood vessels through which
materials pass into and out of the blood. The circulatory system
consists of the heart, blood vessels, and blood. The heart has two
receiving chambers, or atria, and one sending chamber, or ventricle.
Blood is carried to the heart in vessels called veins. Veins from
different parts of the body enter the right and left atria. Blood
from both atria goes into the ventricle and then is pumped into the
arteries, which are blood vessels that carry blood away from the
heart.
The urinary system consists of the frogs kidneys, ureters,
bladder, and cloaca. The kidneys are organs that excrete urine.
Connected to each kidney is a ureter, a tube through which urine
passes into the urinary bladder, a sac that stores urine until it
passes out of the body through the cloaca. The organs of the male
reproductive system are the testes, sperm ducts, and cloaca.
Those of the female system are the ovaries, oviducts, uteri, and
cloaca. The testes produce sperm, or male sex cells, which move
through sperm ducts, tubes that carry sperm into the cloaca, from
which the sperm move outside the body. The ovaries produce eggs,
or female sex cells, which move through oviducts into the uteri,
then through the cloaca outside the body.

The central nervous system of the frog consists of the brain,

which is enclosed in the skull, and the spinal cord, which is enclosed
in the backbone. Nerves branch out from the spinal cord. The frogs
skeletal and muscular systems consist of its framework of bones
and joints, to which nearly all the voluntary muscles of the body
are attached. Voluntary muscles, which are those over which the
frog has control, occur in pairs of flexors and extensors. When a
flexor of a leg or other body part contracts, that part is bent.
When the extensor of that body part contracts, the part
straightens.

Objectives:

Describe the appearance of various organs found in the frog.

Name the organs that make up various systems of the frog.

Purpose:

In this lab, you will dissect a frog in order to observe the external
and internal structures of frog anatomy.

Materials:

safety goggles, gloves, and a lab apron

forceps
preserved frog
dissecting pins (610)
dissecting tray and paper towels
plastic storage bag and twist tie
scissors
marking pen
dissecting needle

Procedure:
1. Put on safety goggles, gloves, and a lab apron.
2. Place a frog on a dissection tray. To determine the frogs sex,

look at the hand digits, or fingers, on its forelegs. A male frog

usually has thick pads on its "thumbs," which is one external
difference between the sexes, as shown in the diagram below.
Male frogs are also usually smaller than female frogs. Observe
several frogs to see the difference between males and
females.

3.

Use the diagram below to locate and identify the external

features of the head. Find the mouth, external nares,
tympani, eyes, and nictitating membranes.

4. Turn the frog on its back and pin down the legs. Cut the hinges

of the mouth and open it wide. Use the diagram below to

locate and identify the structures inside the mouth. Use a
probe to help find each part: the vomerine teeth, the

maxillary teeth, the internal nares, the tongue, the openings

to the Eustachian tubes, the esophagus, the pharynx, and the
slit-like glottis.

5. Look for the opening to the frogs cloaca, located between the

hind legs. Use forceps to lift the skin and use scissors to cut
along the center of the body from the cloaca to the lip. Turn
back the skin, cut toward the side at each leg, and pin the skin
flat. The diagram above shows how to make these cuts
6. Lift and cut through the muscles and breast bone to open up
the body cavity. If your frog is a female, the abdominal cavity
may be filled with dark-colored eggs. If so, remove the eggs
on one side so you can see the organs underlying them.
7. Use the diagram below to locate and identify the organs of

the digestive system: esophagus, stomach, small intestine,

large intestine, cloaca, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.

8. Again refer to the diagram below to identify the parts of the

circulatory and respiratory systems that are in the chest

cavity. Find the left atrium, right atrium, and ventricle of
the heart. Find an artery attached to the heart and another
artery near the backbone. Find a vein near one of the
shoulders. Find the two lungs.

9. Use a probe and scissors to lift and remove the intestines and

liver. Use the diagram on the next page to identify the parts
of the urinary and reproductive systems. Remove the
peritoneal membrane, which is connective tissue that lies on
top of the red kidneys. Observe the yellow fat bodies that are
attached to the kidneys. Find the ureters; the urinary
bladder; the testes and sperm ducts in the male; and the
ovaries, oviducts, and uteri in the female.

10. Remove the kidneys and look for threadlike spinal nerves that

extend from the spinal cord. Dissect a thigh, and trace one
nerve into a leg muscle. Note the size and texture of the leg
muscles.
11. Dispose of your materials according to the directions from
your teacher.
12. Clean up your work area and wash your hands before leaving

the lab.

NAME
_________________________________________

Dissection Instructions
1. Place the frog in the dissecting pan ventral side up.
2. Use scissors to life the abdominal muscles away from the body cavity.
Cut along the midline of the body from the pelvic to the pectoral girdle.
3. Make transverse (horizontal) cuts near the arms and legs.
4. Life the flaps of the body wall and pin back.
*If your specimen is a female, the body may be filled with eggs and an
enlarged ovary. You may need to remove these eggs to view the organs.

Locate each of the organs below. Check the box to

indicate that you found the organs.
Fat Bodies --Spaghetti shaped structures that have a bright orange or yellow color, if you have a
particularly fat frog, these fat bodies may need to be removed to see the other structures. Usually they are
located just on the inside of the abdominal wall.
Peritoneum A spider web like membrane that covers many of the organs, you may have to carefully pick it
off to get a clear view
Liver--The largest structure of the the body cavity. This brown colored organ is composed of three parts, or
lobes. The right lobe, the left anterior lobe, and the left posterior lobe. The liver is not primarily an
organ of digestion, it does secrete a digestive juice called bile. Bile is needed for the proper digestion of
fats.
Heart - at the top of the liver, the heart is a triangular structure. The left and right atrium can be found at
the top of the heart. A single ventricle located at the bottom of the heart. The large vessel extending out
from the heart is the conus arteriosis.
Lungs - Locate the lungs by looking underneath and behind the heart and liver. They are two spongy
organs.
Gall bladder--Lift the lobes of the liver, there will be a small green sac under the liver. This is the gall
bladder, which stores bile. (hint: it kind of looks like a booger)
Stomach--Curving from underneath the liver is the stomach. The stomach is the first major site of
chemical digestion. Frogs swallow their meals whole. Follow the stomach to where it turns into the small
intestine. The pyloric sphincter valve regulates the exit of digested food from the stomach to the small
intestine.
Small Intestine--Leading from the stomach. The first straight portion of the small intestine is called the
duodenum, the curled portion is the ileum. The ileum is held together by a membrane called the

mesentery. Note the blood vessels running through the mesentery, they will carry absorbed nutrients away
from the intestine. Absorption of digested nutrients occurs in the small intestine.
Large Intestine--As you follow the small intestine down, it will widen into the large intestine. The large
intestine is also known as the cloaca in the frog. The cloaca is the last stop before wastes, sperm, or urine
exit the frog's body. (The word "cloaca" means sewer)
Spleen--Return to the folds of the mesentery, this dark red spherical object serves as a holding area for
blood.
Esophagus--Return to the stomach and follow it upward, where it gets smaller is the beginning of the
esophagus. The esophagus is the tube that leads from the frogs mouth to the stomach. Open the frogs
mouth and find the esophagus, poke your probe into it and see where it leads.

STOP!

If you have not located each of the organs above, do not continue
on to the next sections!
Removal of the Stomach: Cut the stomach out of the frog and open it up. You
may find what remains of the frog's last meal in there. Look at the texture of the
stomach on the inside.
What did you find in the stomach?
Measuring the Small intestine: Remove the small intestine from the body cavity
and carefully separate the mesentery from it. Stretch the small intestine out and
measure it. Now measure your frog. Record the measurements below in
centimeters.
Frog length: _______ cm

Intestine length ________ cm

Post Lab Questions

1.

The membrane holds the coils of the small intestine together:

________________
2. This organ is found under the liver, it stores bile: ______________________
3. Name the 3 lobes of the liver: ____________, _______________,
______________
4. The organ that is the first major site of chemical digestion:
____________________

5. Eggs, sperm, urine and wastes all empty into this structure:
___________________
6. The small intestine leads to the: ____________________
7. The esophagus leads to the: _______________________
8. Yellowish structures that serve as an energy reserve:
____________________
9. The first part of the small intestine(straight part): _______________________
10. After food passes through the stomach it enters the:
____________________
11. A spiderweb like membrane that covers the organs:
______________________
12. Regulates the exit of partially digested food from the stomach:
________________
13. The large intestine leads to the __________________
14. Organ found within the mesentery that stores blood:
_____________________
15. The largest organ in the body cavity: _____________________

Label the Diagram

A. __________________________________
B. __________________________________
C. __________________________________
D. __________________________________
E. __________________________________
F. __________________________________
G. __________________________________
H. __________________________________
I. __________________________________
J. __________________________________
K. __________________________________
L. __________________________________
M. __________________________________
N. __________________________________

Frog Dissection
Worksheet
1. What do you think is the function of the nictitating
membrane, and why?
2. A frog does not chew its food. What do the positions of its
teeth suggest about how the frog uses them?

3. Trace the path of food through the digestive tract.

4. Trace the path of blood through the circulatory system,
starting at the right atrium.
5. Trace the path of air through the respiratory system.
6. Trace the paths of sperm in a male and eggs in a female.
7. Trace the path of urine in both sexes.
8. Which parts of the frogs nervous system can be observed in
its abdominal cavity and hind leg?
9. Suppose in a living frog the spinal nerve extending to the leg
muscle were cut. What ability would the frog lose? Why?
10.
The abdominal cavity of a frog at the end of hibernation
season would contain very small fat bodies or none at all. What
is the function of the fat bodies?
11.
Structures of an animals body that fit it for its
environment are adaptations. How do the frogs powerful hind
legs help it to fit into a life both in water and on land?
12.
During one mating of frogs, the female lays some 2,000
to 3,000 eggs in water as the male sheds millions of sperm
over them. How do these large numbers relate to the frogs
fitness for life in water?