University:
Texas A&M University
Course:
BIOL 111 | Introductory Biology I
Academic year:

2023
Views:

454

Pages:

3
Author:

Athena Harrison

Internal Anatomy of a Chicken Lab Activity Student Name: ___________________________ Teacher: ________________________________ Date: ___________ Period: _________________ Chicken Wings and Bones – Why can’t they fly? Purpose: To examine the wing and breast anatomy of a chicken; to distinguish among the types of body systems; to describe adaptations or lack of adaptations for successful flight; to compare the structure and function of skeletal and muscle attributes Wing Questions (with answers): 1. Label the parts of the chicken wing, based on what you discovered in your dissection. Remember to think of what bones they would correspond to in a human arm/hand. Bones (key): Muscles (key): Heart Disease Structure and Function of the Heart 2. Describe the muscles of the wing. How did they pull apart, and why do you think this was? ➔ The muscles appeared “stripped” and pulled apart in threads. This is because muscles are made of fibers and are fibrous. 3. Describe the inside of the chicken wing bone. ➔ They were hollow. Breast Dissection Questions 1. Describe the muscles of the chicken breast (size, shape, color, etc.). ➔ The chicken breast was quite large, as expected for a bird. The meat was “pear” shaped and was white in color. 2. What color would you expect the breast meat of a bird that can fly more efficiently than a chicken to be? Explain why ➔ You would expect it to be red in a bird that can fly well due to the amount of oxygen demand on the muscles, more red-oxygenated blood cells would be carried to the muscles found in the breast 3. What is the bone called that runs down the length of the chicken breast, and what does it correspond to in humans? ➔ Keel, corresponds to the human sternum. Thigh Dissection Questions 1. Draw and label the bones of the leg quarter you dissected in the space below. Bones (key) 2. Was the inside of the thigh bone similar or dissimilar to the inside of a wing bone? 2 Heart Disease Structure and Function of the Heart ➔ They were both hollow. 3. Describe the muscle of the leg (size, color, shape, etc.). ➔ The muscles were large and dark colored 4. What would you expect a bird of flights leg muscles to look like? Explain why. ➔ Expect them to be smaller and made of white meat because birds of flight do not rely on them as heavily. Additional Questions 1. Where were the biggest muscles of the chicken located? Why would the muscles be largest here? ➔ Largest in the breast meat. Even though chickens are not suited to fly well, when they do for their short flights (ex: up a tree to escape predators), they need the large muscles to lift their bodies up. 2. Did you notice any fat deposits on the underside of the skin? If so, list where you saw these fatty deposits. ➔ Wing, a little on breast meat skin. 3. Why do you think chickens are unable to fly as well as other birds? ➔ Chickens have been bred to be too heavy to fly, breast and leg muscles are too large for the wings to be strong enough to provide enough consistent uplift for the chicken to fly well for long distances. 3