Dissection of Sheep Heart, Fetal Pig Cardiovascular System, Respiratory System, Urinary System, and Digestive System

Running head: ANATOMY 1
Anatomy
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ANATOMY 2
1. Discuss your dissection of the sheep heart and the cardiovascular system of the fetal pig
by doing the following:
a. Describe the similarities and differences between the fetal pig heart and the sheep heart.
I did not notice much differences between the two hearts. However, the difference
between the fetal pig heart along with the sheep heart is that the heart of the fetal pig is smaller
than that of the sheep heart. On the other hand, the similarities are that both the specimens
possesses the same anatomy. Accordingly, both have right and left atriums similar to right and
left ventricles. The third similarity is that both have prominent great vessels just like the
pulmonary artery along with the aorta (Rizzo, 2015).
b. Describe the four valves of the heart, including their name, location, and function.
The 4 valves of the heart in the fetal pig are the tricuspid valve, pulmonic valve, mitral
and aortic valve. The tricuspid valve is located between the right atria and the right ventricle. As
an illustration, the right atrium usually gets deoxygenated blood which returns from circulation
within the body via superior Vena cava which is then pushed via the tricuspid valve into the right
ventricle (Allen & Harper, 2014). The deoxygenated blood is then forced from the right ventricle
through the pulmonic valve to the lungs to get oxygen.
The pulmonic valve is termed as the semilunar cusped valve which is found within the
ostium of the pulmonary artery. Blood usually moves to the heart from the lungs via the
pulmonary vein into the left atrium. From there, blood then moves through the mitral valve into
the left ventricle. The mitral valve is usually a bicuspid or leaflet atrioventricular valve. The left
ventricle usually contracts when it gets full, and hence blood is pushed into the aortic valve via
aorta into the body (Rizzo, 2015). The aortic valve are found along the root of the aorta at its
junction with left ventricle. It is usually a high pressure, cusped semi lunar valve which must

ANATOMY 3
withstand tremendous pressures during the election from left.
c. Discuss the similarities and differences between the left and right sides of the heart.
The heart is usually masculine on the left ventricle together with the left atrium.
Conversely, the difference is their sizes. In this case, the left side of the heart was larger than the
right side. Furthermore, the right and left ventricles had papillary muscles along with chordae
tendinea which attaches the tricuspid and mitral valves to the interventricular wall. Accordingly,
the right side circulates blood without oxygen while the left side circulates oxygenated blood.
Last but not least, the aortic and tricuspid valve was at the left side of the heart while the
tricuspid along with pulmonary valve was on the right side (Reece & Rowe, 2017).
d. Compare the structure of the atrioventricular valves to the structure of the semilunar
valves.
The mitral along with tricuspid valve are both atrioventricular valves. However, the
mitral valve possesses two cusps while the other valves have three (Allen & Harper, 2014). The
valves are anchored to the walls of the ventricle with the chordae tendineae which is absent in
semi-lunar valves. Furthermore, they are responsible for the first sound of the heart called LUB
sound (Denbow, 2015).
The aortic and pulmonary valves termed as the semi-lunar valves. Conversely, they
usually work more like the valves in veins to avoid backflow of blood. Accordingly, the semi-
lunar valves are typically responsible for the second sound of the heartbeat which is called the
DUB sound (Roper & Voss, 2014).
e. Describe the appearance of the papillary muscles.