Donkey Dissection

If you're not into slightly gory details, this post probably isn't for you. Just some passing comments on our donkey dissection in anatomy lab.

Our first unit in anatomy 2 is the horse. Instead of dissecting horses, we're dissecting donkeys. They're smaller and more manageable (I imagine it's easier to get them to the island too?). They're also supposed to be remarkably similar to the horse, although I cannot confirm that this is true because I've never dissected a horse!

I am actually liking anatomy better this semester (shocking!!!). I still have that distaste from last semester keeping me biased, but so far it has been more enjoyable. I really like my (large) lab group, and I really like only having lab twice a week. Having lecture 4 times a week is not quite as fun, but I'll deal.

Anyhow, we're dissecting the donkey until midterms, which are roughly 4 weeks from now (wow that's scary to say!). Unlike our dog last semester, we seem to be flying through each section! It is unbelievable how much better and quicker we've become from last semester's tentativeness and tediousness. We started with the neck, moved on to the thorax, then the abdomen, and will be starting the pelvis on Monday. My favorite parts of the dog were the thorax and abdomen. The thorax was slightly boring this time around, but the abdomen held lots of surprises and goodies for us. This is mainly because the equine/donkey GI tract is very different from that of a dog. So we spent part of yesterday and most of today exploring the intestines, looking at all of the differences, and feeling all of the different parts (curious? run a search for equine GI tract and I'm sure you'll find lots of good stuff). The colon is massive! Not only in relation to the dog, but in diameter, length, everything! It was really quite beautiful and amazing to look at and manipulate.

Another thing we did today was remove both kidneys and check them out. The left kidney is shaped like a "6" while the right kidney is more heart shaped. Cutting them open was much more satisfying than the dog. Much to my extreme disappointment, our dog kidneys had very little internal detail. I'm used to seeing them on ultrasound where they are quite pretty. The donkey kidney, however, was full of lovely detail and we could pick out all of the different parts quite nicely! The kidney is my favorite abdominal organ, the lungs are my favorite thoracic organ.

To end the day, we had our thoracic cavity completely removed! Much to my surprise, the only bits we're left with now are the head/neck and the pelvis/hind limbs! All of the rest has been properly stored in other containers. I could go into detail about how the donkey was dismembered, but I think perhaps I'll spare you! It was quite a sight to see though!