Introduction to Practical Anatomy Flashcards
What 7 ways can you use to identify different cadaveric specimens?
Size of specimen, general appearance, shape, skin thickness, colour of tissues, colour of fat, evidence of fetal remnants.
How can the general appearance and shape of a specimen help to discover what species it is from?
Presence and type of fur, shape of the feet, presence and shape of tail.
How does skin thickness differ between animals?
in general larger animals have thicker skin
Why might the tissues of a specimen differ in colour?
Fresh tissue that is unpreserved tends to be more red in colour due to the presence of blood. Fixed (preserved) specimens are more bleached in colour.
What may you look for when seeing if there are any fetal remnants in the specimen in order to tell its age?
umbilical stump, hole in the middle wall of the heart.
How can the colour of fat differ between cows, sheep, pigs and horses?
Cows and sheep have fat that is white in colour, pigs and horses have yellow coloured fat.
Why is there a difference in the colour of fat between species?
Due to their diet.
What does it mean when a specimen is isolated?
Removed from the animal
What does it mean if a specimen is in situ?
remains within the animal
How would you recognise bone in a specimen?
hard and yellow/white in appearence
What circumstances can cause bone to become softer when it is a specimen?
Formalin can soften bone and make it more bendy
What is the function of tendons?
Join muscle to bone
What is the function of ligaments?
join bone to bone and limit movement in a particular direction.
What is the function of a muscle?
to move body parts in relation to each other
How would a muscle look as a fresh specimen and as a fixed?
fresh would be red due to the presence of blood, fixed in formalin would be brown or grey.
Describe an artery
thick walled, smooth muscle, has a lumen
What is the function of an artery?
to carry blood away from the heart
Describe a vein
Thinner than an artery and larger in diameter
How would a vein appear in a specimen?
Blue due to congealed blood, or transparent. Very fragile
How would nerves appear on a specimen?
no lumen, often bundled together. Thin ‘strings’
How can nerves sometimes be prepared in a specimen?
sometimes particular nerves are coloured white so that they stand out.
What is the cranium?
part of the skull that houses the brain, towards the back of the skull
How can the type of teeth tell you what sort of animal skull you are studying?
Pointed/sharp teeth at the front of the mouth with ‘shearing’ teeth at the back come from carnivores. flatter teeth with grinding surfaces come from herbivores. A mixture of the two would suggest an omnivore.
What can the structure of the facial skeleton tell us about the animal it belongs to?
shows size of face in relation to cranium, also the position of the teeth/jaw can indicate the breed. e.g undershot jaw in a boxer.
What 4 ways can specimens be presented?
fixed (formulin), unfixed (fresh), plastinated, corrosion casting
What do fixed specimens look like?
yellow/grey in colour no fresh blood present
What does a fresh specimen look like?
colourful, lots of blood present
How does plastination work?
body is prevented from decaying and through various processes has fat and water removed and replaced with silicone. It is then positioned before being hardened with gas
