Name: _______________________________________________ Period: ______ Date: ___________________
Honors Biology – Frog Dissection
DAY 1 – External Anatomy and Structures of the Mouth
DIRECTIONS:
Obtain a frog specimen, and rinse it with tap water to remove external traces of preserving fluid (wear
gloves!). Place your frog in a dissecting tray and take it to your table. Today you will be examining the
frog’s external anatomical features and structures of the mouth. Remember a common theme in
biology: structure vs function…keep this in mind as you examine the frog.
Take four (4) photographs of the frog (ventral, dorsal, anterior, posterior). Place your photographs into a
Google drawing and label the following:
External Structure
Function/Description
Dorsal coloration
Ventral coloration
Eyes
External nares
Tympanic membranes
Nictitating membranes
Suggest an evolutionary reason for a frog’s coloration:
How do the external anatomical features (and their locations) of a frog suggest its “dual” life (aquatic vs
terrestrial):
DIRECTIONS: Using a scissors, make a small cut at the corner of the mouth, to allow you to fully open
the jaws. Photograph the inside of the frog’s mouth. Place the photo in a Google drawing and label the
following:
Oral Cavity Structure
Function/Description
Maxillary teeth
Vomerine teeth
Internal nares
Eustachian tubes
tongue (describe attachment point)
glottis
esophagus
vocal sac openings
How are teeth used differently by a frog as compared to humans?
Though difficult to determine the sex of a frog based on external anatomy, what features can be used in
this regard? Is your frog male or female? Why?