Anatomy of the Heart: Sheep, Pig, and Cow Heart Dissection

In this lab the class was divided into several groups, and each group dissected either a sheep, pig, or cow heart. After the dissection was complete, each group moved around the room and collected data on all three different types of heart.

1. The basic structure of each heart is pretty much the same throughout each heart specimen. Each heart has four chamber (two atriums and two ventricles) and contains an aorta and pulmonary trunk. The only difference between the hearts is the size of each structure.
2. There were many differences between each heart specimen. The cow heart was very fatty and firm. Both the pig and sheep heart were softer and did not have as much fat surrounding them. Also the overall size each heart and its structures differed from each other.
3. Adaptive reasons for the difference in size would probably be due to the actual size of each animal. A sheep does not need a heart the size of a cow because it is considerably smaller than a cow.

A picture of the cow heart my group dissected. It was the best one. :)