Expt.

1 Prelab

What is the digestive system

Functions of the digestive system
Why compare

Digestion is important for breaking down food into nutrients, which is used for energy,
growth, and cell repair. Food and drink must be changed into smaller molecules of nutrients
before it is absorbed and carried them to cells throughout the body. The digestive system is made
up of the structures of the alimentary tract and the accessory digestive organs. The alimentary
tract or canal is a hollow extending from the mouth to the anus. Accessory digestive organs
empty their secretions into the alimentary canal to aid in digestion. These structures include the
salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.
In animals, there are four basic types of digestive systems: monogastric, ruminant,
pseudo-ruminant, and avian. Monogastric animals have a single stomach that secretes enzymes
to break down food into smaller particles; additional gastric juices are produced by the liver,
salivary glands, and pancreas to assist with the digestion of food. The avian digestive system has
a mouth (beak), crop (for food storage), and gizzard (for breakdown), as well as a twochambered stomach consisting of the proventriculus, which releases enzymes, and the true
stomach, which finishes the breakdown. Ruminants are those animals that have four stomachs;
they eat plant matter and have symbiotic bacteria living within their stomachs to help digest
cellulose. Pseudo-ruminants are similar to ruminants, but have a three-chambered stomach; the
symbiotic bacteria that help them to break down cellulose is found in the cecum, a chamber close
to the large intestine.

Objective
1. To dissect the structures of the mammalian digestive system and identify them by name.
2. To identify the structures in the avian digestive system.
3. To compare the structures of the mammalian and avian digestive system.
Methodology
Materials

Procedure
Dissection of the chicken
Place the pigeon on your dissection tray ventral side up.
10. Part the feathers mid-ventrally to expose the bare skin. By running your finger from anterior
to posterior between the now parted feathers you should be able to feel a bony ridge. This is the
keel that anchors the large flight muscles.
11. Carefully with your scalpel make a very shallow incision along the keel. You only want to cut
through the skin, not the muscle. Use the diagram below to carefully make the transverse
incisions.
13. Remove the skin of the throat to reveal the crop, an expansion of the
esophagus
14. Using a scalpel, cut through all the connective tissue holding the pectoral muscles in the keel.
Completely lay back the pectoral muscles
15. Using a pair of scissors, cut through the ribs and clavicle. Then, remove the sternum.
Remove any connective or fatty tissue that is still clinging to the organs of the digestive system.
16. locate the following organs:
Ventriculus/gizzard- a lens-shaped organ
Proventriculus - located anterior to the ventriculus, a spindle-shaped organ.
Small intestine - follows after the gizzard

Caeca- two small blind pouches found near the terminal end of the
intestines
Large intestine located posterior to the area where the Caeca attach
Liver- dark brown bilobed organ
Gall Bladder- found in the right lobe of the liver
Pancreas- an elongated organ found that lies b/w the limbs of the
duodenal loop
Measuring the pH
(crop, ventriculus, proventriculus, small intestine, caeca, large)
Make an opening
Measure the ph by using a pH meter by inserting a glass electrode

RAT