Anatomy and physiology of farm animals
ANATOMY i s the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. It also deals with the structural organization of living things. Physiology on the other hand is the scientific study of the functions and mechanisms that works with the living things. In this article, we will discuss the anatomy and physiology of farm animals.
Knowing t he anatomy and physiology of farm animals can help most especially the veterinarian, vet technician, farm manager, farmers, teachers and students the necessary functions of farm animal body parts and the physiological terms that are useful to them. With knowledge from such, one can know the difference also of anatomy and physiology where the former has to do with the physical while the latter has to do with the body functions.
Most traditional farm animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals because they are classified as vertebrates or animals having a spinal column or backbone, consisting of vertebra that surround the nerve cord. Between the vertebra are the cartilage disks, that make the spine a flexible bone structure. Connected to the vertebra are the muscles that allow the movement of the different parts of the spine. These animals have a bone internal skeleton, mainly made up of living material that grows with the animal until it reaches its definitive dimensions.
Anatomy and physiology terms described in class can be used when describing all types of vertebrates. Fish have been the first vertebrates to have appeared on the Earth. Their appearances can be the most diverse, depending on how they have adapted to the environments in which they live. A typical organ of most, but not all, fish is the air bladder, which is filled with gas and allows therefore the fish to change its specific gravity to swim up and down without moving its fins.
Amphibians means “double life” in Greek since these animals live partly in water and partly on land. Before becoming adults, they undergo changes that completely transform their appearance. From the eggs wriggle out the young animals, called tadpoles and looking like small fish: later on, the tadpole from a larva becomes a fully formed adult. During the metamorphosis, the tadpole begins to grow legs and its gills become smaller and smaller until they disappear: they are replaced by lungs, that are necessary to breath air. Finally, the tail is completely swallowed up into the body.
The word “reptile” comes from the Latin reptilis, which means “creeping”. Actually, the animals that best represent the entire class are snakes, but Reptiles also include
such quadrupeds as tortoises and crocodiles. Reptiles look quite like Amphibians, but have something more: they can also live in dry areas, far from water. They have lungs to breathe and are commonly called “cold-blood vertebrates”; in fact the temperature of their blood depends on that of the environment, and is slightly higher than that, so it would be more correct to call them heterothermal animals, i.e. “whose body temperature varies”. Their body is coated in scales and they reproduce by laying eggs.
Birds are perfectly formed for flying; their skeleton is actually very light because their bones are pneumatized, i. e. contain air. The upper limbs of Birds are wings, while their lower limbs are retractile; their body is coated in feathers and plumage, that offer excellent protection with minimum weight. They also have an exceptional prehensile organ: the beak, whose proper name is “rhamphotheca” and consists of two corneal cases.
Mammals are homoeothermic animals, i. e. they maintain a body temperature of around 37° C. The name “mammal” ( which literally means “that bears mammary glands”) refers to one of their distinguishing features, i.e. for some time they feed their offspring with the milk secreted by their mammary glands. Their body is covered in hair, which are reduced or missing in those species that have adapted to living in water ( Cetaceans, such as dolphins and whales) or that have scales ( such as armadillos and pangolins). Apart from Cetaceans (such as dolphins and whales), Sirenians (such as dugongs) and Pinnipedia (such as seals and sea lions;), whose limbs have turned into flippers, all Mammals have four limbs and are therefore called quadrupeds. ( Paid article)