Vertebrae Dissection Questions

1. Our specimen was a rat, and it was a female. We know it is a female because a urogenital
opening was visible between its legs, and it did not have testes.
2. Our specimen (rat) belongs to the Class Mammalia and Order Rodentia.
3. The scientific name for a rat is Rattus norvegicus.
4. The digestive system of our specimen (rat) was very interesting. The liver was dark in colour
and was located under the diaphragm. The liver looked like a flap, which was divided into four
lobes: median lobe, left lateral lobe, right lateral lobe, and a caudate lobe. Just beneath the liver
lays the stomach. It was curved, light in colour, and the esophagus pierced the diaphragm and
joined the stomach. Underneath the stomach was the pancreas. Near the stomach was the small
intestine. It was a slender curled tube. Which consisted of three parts: duodenum (first part that
comes from the stomach, mostly straight), jejunum (second part of small intestine), and ileum
(last part before the small intestine becomes the large intestine). On top of the small intestine was
the large intestine, it resembled the stomach, but it was much bigger. The colon leads to the anus.
The colon is also known as the large intestine and it has four parts: cecum (large flat sac located
in the lower abdominal cavity), ascending colon (food travels up), transverse colon (short part
parallel to diaphragm), descending colon (section of large intestine travels back down to
rectum), and the rectum (final part of colon that leads to anus).
5. The most important organs in our specimen, the rat, are:
(a) Anus helps excrete feces, and urine
(b) Bones structural framework, protects internal organs from injury
(c) Brain controls various functions such as movement and allows thinking.
(d) Ears allows the rat to hear other rats (communication). They can also hear ultrasonic
frequencies.
(e) Esophagus allows them to swallow food
(f) Eyes allows them to see food, predators, and where they are going
(g) Heart circulates blood throughout body
(h) Kidney salt and water balance, elimination of toxic wastes, makes urine
(i) Large intestine completes absorption, manufactures vitamins , formation of feces
(j) Liver produces essential enzymes for metabolizing nutrients, essential for filtering
contaminants from the blood, converting wastes into a disposable form, essential vitamins and
minerals stored.
(k) Lungs helps rat to breathe, carry out gas exchange
(l) Mouth allows rat to eat, and communicate
(m) Nose allows them to breathe, and smell
(n) Rectum stores and eliminates feces
(o) Skin cover and protect organs, protects against bacterial invasion, prevent water and

electrolyte loss, keeps tissues from drying out, helps with thermal regulation
(p) Small intestine digests and absorbs nutrients
(q) Stomach adds acid to break down food, aids in digestion of proteins
(r) Tail serves as heat loss organ, used for balance when climbing
6. Rats belong to the class mammalia because:
(a) They are warm blooded
(b) Feed their young with their milk from hidden mammary glands
(c) Have fur
(d) born alive
Yes the internal dissection provides a clue that rats are mammals. The internal organs of a rat are
very similar to humans. However, the external features help classify the rat as mammals based on
their fur, and concealed mammary glands.
7. The rat had a vertebral column. It had holes, through which the spinal cord ran through. The
main function of the vertebral column is to provide protection for the spinal cord. It was thin and
white in colour. It ran through the rats neck, back, and tail. It had 7 cervical vertebrae, and
the first two cervical vertebrae were modified to form a universal joint for head movement. It
also had 13 thoracic vertebrae to which its ribs were attached, behind it were 5 individual
cylindrical bones called lumbar vertebra. There were 3 or 4 sacral vertebrae that were
joined together to form the sacrum (triangular bone in the lower back formed from the fusion of
vertebrae and placed between the two hipbones of the pelvis). The sacrum unified with the
pelvic girdle. Rats also have 26 to 30 caudal vertebrae in their tail.
8. In our opinion the most interesting part of our dissection was:
(a) Skinning the rat so we could see its muscles and tissues
(b) Seeing its internal organs and the way they were laid out
(c) Cutting open its stomach to see all the food
(d) cutting open the rats four chambered heart to have a better understanding how it is from the
inside and how a human heart would be
(e) dissevering its head to see the vertebral column, and trying to locate its brain
Overall every step of the dissection was very interesting, since we were acquiring knowledge
about an animal that seems very small and simple. Yet we learned how complex its system is and
how similar its internal organs are to humans.
9. Our dissection didnt have many surprises since we had thoroughly researched about our
specimen in the time given to us. However, when we were dissevering its head we felt that the
spinal cord wasnt that hard to cut through. We expected it to be more rigid and more solid, since
it has the vertebral column protecting the spinal cord.
10. This dissection was very different compared to that of the squid for many reasons. Externally
the squid had a slimy jelly like mantle which held most of the organs except for the mouth, beak

and eyes. It was much easier to cut through the mantle since it was a jelly like covering, but the
rat was much more complex with muscles and tissues making it harder to cut through the skin.
They both had eyes on sides of their head allowing them to see predators. However the squid had
large bulging eyes with a transparent covering on top, whereas the rat has small eyes with eyelids
to protect them. The squids mouth was located in between its tentacles and has a beak made out
of chitin whereas the rat has a mouth with salivary glands, teeth, tongue, and an esophagus. The
squid has a complex digestive system consisting of a stomach, from there the bolus moves to
cecum for digestion, food goes to liver for digestion and solid waste is passed out of the rectum.
Compared to the rat, whose digestive system is complex as well, but contains many more stages.
The food passes through the esophagus to the stomach, to small intestine where absorption
happens, to large intestine, colon and then out through anus. They both have a very different
heart. The squid has three small hearts which are orange in colour, whereas the rat has one 4
chambered heart. One major difference is that squids are invertebrates (lack a backbone),
compared to a rat which a vertebrate (have a backbone). We had to cut through the backbone of a
rat when we didnt have to for the squid. Both of our specimen were females, but squid are
oviparous, and rats are viviparous.

Done By: Harleen Pandher, Ekampreet Boparai, Simar Narwal, Dilkiran Grewal