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Toad Dissection Guide

The document provides a guide to dissecting a toad, outlining 13 steps: 1) Place the toad dorsal side up 2) Observe the tetrapod appendages - limbs divided into upper arm/forearm and thigh/lower leg/foot 3) Identify external nares and tympanic membranes on the head

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JJ Almagro
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324 views2 pages

Toad Dissection Guide

The document provides a guide to dissecting a toad, outlining 13 steps: 1) Place the toad dorsal side up 2) Observe the tetrapod appendages - limbs divided into upper arm/forearm and thigh/lower leg/foot 3) Identify external nares and tympanic membranes on the head

Uploaded by

JJ Almagro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Table 1.

Guide to the Dissection of a Toad

1. Place the toad on the dissecting tray with the dorsal surface facing up.

2. Observe the toad appendages that have evolved to adapt to terrestrial life. The toad uses 4 limbs to travel and move,
making it a tetrapod. You will see that each forelimb includes an upper arm, forearm, and hand. The toad’s hind limbs
are divided into a thigh, lower leg, and foot.

3. Looking at the head, identify the 2 external nares at the head’s tip. These function as a means of respiration.

4. Find the round tympanic membranes that form the toad’s external sound receptors. You will find these on the back
side of the eyes.

5. Look closely at the eyes and attempt to find the toad’s third eyelid; this is the nictitating membrane that moistens and
protects the eye. As the toad is deceased, this will appear as a cloudy eyelid attached at the bottom of the eye;
however, it would appear clear in a living toad.

6. Identify the cloaca, located at the specimen’s posterior end. The cloacal opening provides the function of exit for all
urinary, reproductive, and digestive systems.

7. Reposition the toad to lie on its dorsal side, and ventral surface facing up.

8. Using scissors, cut into the toad’s abdomen. To do this, pinch the skin at the toad’s stomach and make a small cut at
the center.

9. Slice through the skin, keeping your cuts as straight and clean as
possible. Follow the cutting pattern in shown on the image on the
side.

10. Using the same pattern, Slice through the layers of muscle until you
reveal the internal organs beneath.

11. Locate the toad’s liver in the abdomen body cavity; it will be
comparatively large in size and brown. The largest internal organ,
the liver consists of 3 lobes.

12. Reposition the liver lobes to reveal gallbladder beneath. The


gallbladder, which stores bile, will appear significantly smaller and
greenish.
13. Following your dissection guide and the image below, identify the following internal structures:
• Stomach
• Small intestine
• Large intestine
• Spleen
• Heart
• Lungs
• Fat Bodies

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