Rat Dissection
Rat Dissection
Prelab
1. Is your left like your right side?
It should be similar to your right but there can be differences like if damage was done to one side or if one side was mutated and disfigured. 2. Name an animal that doesn’t have a left and right side.
Snakes don’t have a left and right side but there is an interesting study about that which is that Adult snakes (16 of 20 snakes) preferred to coil in the clockwise direction. Many female snakes (15 of 20 snakes), but few male snakes (only 4 of 10 snakes), also tended to coil in a clockwise pattern. This suggests that the location of internal organs such as the lungs, kidney and stomach may affect coiling direction. For example, in some snakes, the right lung is pushed aside by the stomach and the left lung is smaller than the right lung. These anatomical features may influence coiling direction so that the snake can maximize behaviors such as striking or regulating body temperature. Coiling direction may also be influenced by differences in the anatomy of the right and left sides of the snake brain. Just as humans have a right or left brain dominance for many behaviors, snakes may also have brain asymmetries to control what they do. 3. What kind of symmetry does it have?
Patterns on its skin and the way it coils. 4. Describe the rat’s feet, snout, ears and eyes. How do they function according to where it lives and what it eats?
The rat has evolved to match its environment its feet are used to feel around and move very fast at the same time. Snout is developed to smell food or anything bad that it should stay away from. The ears are very sensitive to hearing and can pick up movement. The rats eyes are made to see in dark environments. 5. Familiarize yourself with the compass points and describe the meaning of anterior, posterior, dorsal, ventral, distal, proximal, caudal, and cranial. (The left and right always refer to the specimen’s left and right).
Anterior & Posterior:
Prelab
1. Is your left like your right side?
It should be similar to your right but there can be differences like if damage was done to one side or if one side was mutated and disfigured. 2. Name an animal that doesn’t have a left and right side.
Snakes don’t have a left and right side but there is an interesting study about that which is that Adult snakes (16 of 20 snakes) preferred to coil in the clockwise direction. Many female snakes (15 of 20 snakes), but few male snakes (only 4 of 10 snakes), also tended to coil in a clockwise pattern. This suggests that the location of internal organs such as the lungs, kidney and stomach may affect coiling direction. For example, in some snakes, the right lung is pushed aside by the stomach and the left lung is smaller than the right lung. These anatomical features may influence coiling direction so that the snake can maximize behaviors such as striking or regulating body temperature. Coiling direction may also be influenced by differences in the anatomy of the right and left sides of the snake brain. Just as humans have a right or left brain dominance for many behaviors, snakes may also have brain asymmetries to control what they do. 3. What kind of symmetry does it have?
Patterns on its skin and the way it coils. 4. Describe the rat’s feet, snout, ears and eyes. How do they function according to where it lives and what it eats?
The rat has evolved to match its environment its feet are used to feel around and move very fast at the same time. Snout is developed to smell food or anything bad that it should stay away from. The ears are very sensitive to hearing and can pick up movement. The rats eyes are made to see in dark environments. 5. Familiarize yourself with the compass points and describe the meaning of anterior, posterior, dorsal, ventral, distal, proximal, caudal, and cranial. (The left and right always refer to the specimen’s left and right).
Anterior & Posterior: