Background Information
· It body has bilateral symmetry.
· Its body is composed of four regions – a head, neck, trunk, and tail.
· The trunk, which has two pairs of appendages, can be subdivided into the thorax and abdomen.
· The head contains two eyes, eyelids, and ears.
· The snout area contains the nares (nostrils) and the mouth.
· The legs are very similar to those of many other four-legged mammals.
On each leg, the digets combine to form a hoof.
The hoof is cloven (divided into two parts at the end) and the pig walks on the tips of its
toes.
· The remains of the umbilical cord are also present. In the male, an external pouch, the scrotal sac, is
located between the upper parts of the hind legs, and contain the testes.
· Each forelimb consists of an upper arm, forearm, and hand. The wrist is located between the hand and the forearm.
· The elbow protrudes on the posterior side of the junction of the forelimb with the body. The shoulder is not recognized by any obvious feature.
· Each hind limb consists of a thigh, a leg, and a foot.
· The hip (or upper part of the thigh) is a bony mass close to the body.
· The lungs and digestive system are not functional.
· The path of blood involves the umbilical cord.
· Blood is oxygenated by the mother to the fetal blood in the placenta.
· The heart has a ductus arteriosus. During fetal life, blood circulates through the heart
somewhat as in the adult, with the exception of the ductus arterious.
· The ductus arterious reroutes deoxygenated blood from the pulmonary arteries to the aorta.
· Depending on the stage of the fetus, testes may not yet be fully descended into the scrotal sack.
· The urinary bladder is an elongated sac between two umbilical arteries and one umbilical vein in the umbilical cord.