frog digestive system diagram fetal pig dissection

Several peer-reviewed comparative studies have concluded that the educational outcomes of students who are taught basic and advanced biomedical concepts and skills using non-animal methods are equivalent or superior to those of their peers who use animal-based laboratories such as animal dissection. In addition, they are relatively large with well-developed organs that are easily visible. Fourthly, fetal pigs are easy to dissect because of their soft tissue and incompletely developed bones that are still made of cartilage. Fetal pigs not used in classroom dissections are often used in fertilizer or simply discarded. These pigs are not bred and killed for this purpose, but are extracted from the deceased sow’s uterus. Fetal pigs are easy to obtain at a relatively low price because they are by-products of the meat-packing industry. They also allow for the study of fetal circulation, which differs from that of an adult. Shared traits include common hair, mammary glands, live birth, similar organ systems, metabolic levels, and basic body form. There are several reasons for this, including that pigs, like humans, are mammals. Pigs, as a mammalian species, provide a good specimen for the study of physiological systems and processes due to the similarities between many pig and human organs.Īlong with frogs and earthworms, fetal pigs are among the most common animals used in classroom dissection. Fetal pigs are unborn pigs used in elementary as well as advanced biology classes as objects for dissection.

Frog digestive system diagram fetal pig dissection