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.

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:  _____________________