Laboratory Activity No.

8: The Digestive System of a Frog

The digestive system is composed of the digestive tract, the digestive glands, and several
accessory parts. Its function is to receive, digest, and absorb food, and to eliminate particular
wastes. The digestive system of the frog is similar in most respect so that of other vertebrates.
The largemouth or buccal cavity secretes mucus for lubricating the food because frogs do not
have salivary glands. The frog is a carnivorous animal that preys on insects, worms, crustaceans,
or anything small enough to catch and swallow whole. A large extensible tongue can flip out
rapidly to capture prey. The maxillary and vomerine teeth in the upper mouth help keep the prey
from escaping. Swallowing is achieved by combining muscular movements, mucus secretion,
ciliated lining, the mouth cavity, and the eyes' lowering into their sockets that depress the
mouth's roof. The back part of the mouth cavity is the pharynx, which opens into the short but
very muscular esophagus leading to the stomach. The stomach leads to the small intestine, where
bile and pancreatic secretions act on the food. The absorption of food takes place in the small
intestine. Undigested food proceeds to the large intestine and finally empties into the cloaca and
passing through the anus.
Digestion of food is both by chemical and physical means. Food is physically torn into
small pieces by the contraction of muscles, and the digestive enzymes mediate the chemical
breakdown of food. These enzymes are secreted by the digestive organs' specialized cells and the
accessory glands like the liver and pancreas.

The Buccal Cavity

- The tongue is the forked muscular organ found at the middle posterior region of the
mouth and flips out rapidly to capture the prey.
- Glottis is the narrow slit at the middle posterior region of the buccal cavity.
- The opening of the Vocal Sacs is the pair of slits which is situated on the floor at the
posterior region of the mouth.
- Maxillary teeth are a row of small teeth arranged like a continuous saw in the upper jaw;
they help keep the prey from escaping.
- Sulcus Marginalis is the deep grooves in the inner side of the upper jaw; these receive the
lower jaw when the mouth is close.
- Median Substrostral Fossa is the pit or depression which is located at the tip of the roof of
the mouth.
- Pulvinar Rostrale is the slight elevation which is situated on each side of the median
substrostral fossa.
- Lateral Substrostral Fossa is the light depression which is found lateral and adjacent to
the pulvinar rostrale.
- Vomerine Teeth is the pair of clusters on the vomers; these are located immediately
posteromedial to the sulcus marginalis.
- Posterior or Internal Nares is the two small openings located on each side of the vomer
and lateral to the vomerine teeth; these are the inside openings of the nostril or the
external nares.
- The Eustachian Tube opening is near the angle of the jaw on each side.
- The pharynx is the narrowed posterior of the mouth cavity, which is found behind the
tongue and which opens into the esophagus.
The Digestive System
1. The Digestive Tube is the tube that starts in the mouth and ends in the anus.
- The esophagus is a short tube connecting the pharynx and the stomach.
- The stomach is the sizeable curved organ that is situated underneath the left lobe of the
liver. This is suspended from the wall by a mesentery, called mesogaster.
- The small intestine is the whitish and slender tube that is connected to the stomach by a
thin membrane or mesentery. It is divided into a short, anterior duodenum and long
posterior ileum.
- The large intestine (Rectum) is a short tube but large than the small intestine; it is
suspended dorsally by the mesentery called the mesorectum, and it is greatly enlarged at
its anterior end.
- Cloaca is the most expanded posterior region of the large intestine, which opens through
the anus to the outside.
- Solid waste is then stored in the rectum until it is excreted via the anus.
2. The Digestive Glands are the glands that secrete substances that help convert food to a
soluble form.
- The liver is the three-lobed, flat organ which is in the anterior ventral region of the
coelom.
- The gallbladder is the small light green sac found between the middle and right lobes of
the liver.
- The pancreas is the small, long ribbon-like yellowish organ suspended in the mesentery at
the intestine and stomach junction, which extends from the liver to the pylorus.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this activity, I can:

1. identify the digestive organs and state their functions; and
2. know how the process of digestion happens.

Instruction:
1. Pith the frog, place its ventral side up on a dissecting pan or any material available at
your home with the same function as dissecting pan and pin its feet.
2. Cut the corner of the mouth straight back through the sides to expose the mouth or buccal
cavity. Moreover, locate the tongue, glottis, maxillary teeth, vomerine teeth, internal
nares, and pharynx.
3. After examining the buccal cavity, cut the skin of the frog from junctions of the hind legs
to the point of the lower jaw; then make a transverse cut through the skin behind the
forelegs, and another just in front of the hind legs to expose the coelom or body cavity
that contains the visceral organs. Note the peritoneum, which is a thin glistening
membrane that covers the viscera and lines the coelom. Then, pin back the flaps of the
skin.
4. After pinning, locate the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, anus, liver, gall bladder,
and pancreas.
5. Take pictures of your specimen, showing all the digestive parts mention above.
6. For the submission of activity no. 8, the number of photos allowed is a maximum of
three, following the format below. The deadline for submission is on November 17, 2020,
until 6:00 PM.
Name: Maricris Guillermo Date: November 19 2020
Course/Year/Section: BSBIO1A Laboratory Teacher: Ma’am Krystel Grace Padilla

Laboratory Activity Sheet No. 8: The Digestive System of a Frog

1. Photo of the actual frog specimen showing the buccal cavity or mouth with the label.
 vomerine teeth

Internal nares
Maxillary teeth
tongue

pharynx

glottis

2. Photo of the actual frog specimen showing the digestive system with the label.
 liver

stomach

Gall bladder

anus

pancreas

Large intestine
Small intestine

3. Explain the process of peristalsis.

As we swallow, the wave-like involuntary movement, peristalsis, occur from the

esophagus. Peristalsis contracts and relax the muscle to move the food down to the stomach
and to the intestines.

4. Describe how a frog captures its prey.

 Using its long sticky and stretchy tongue, it is thrown to the prey and wraps it and
snaps back down to the frog’s throat.

5. What is the crucial role of the villi of the small intestine? The rugae of the stomach?

The crucial role of the villi in the small intestine is that it projects into the intestinal
cavity and increase the area and diffusion or absorption of the digested food into the
organism’s bloodstream. Whie the rugae of the stomach allows the expansion of the stomach
and the other tissues and allows to accommodate another meal.

6. How do the digestive glands aid in the digestion of food?

The digestive glands aid in the digestion of food by secreting saliva and digestive
enzymes to break down the digested food chemically.