Question

a) Make a Table below, when comparing similarities and differences between the pig and cat (both digestive + skeleton systems)

1. What is the length of the small intestine relative to the body? Why?
2. What is the length of the large intestine relative to the body? Why?
3. Is the spinal column bent or straight? Why?
4. Are the legs straight or highly bent? And what is the length of the leg bones in each animal? Why? How do you think this relates to locomotion in each animal, or what type of locomotion is possible?
5. Is the body elongate or tall?

b)In the pig, the masseter muscle is larger than in the cat. Why might this be so?

c) How does the mammalian heart differs from those of reptiles? And from those of fishes? How similar is it to a bird’s heart?What advantage has the mammalian heart over the reptilian heart? Use diagrams if necessary.

Answer 1

Questions	Pig	Cat
Length of small intestine relative to the body	In Pigs the relative length of small intestine is approx 13 times longer than the body , pigs do have a longer length of small intestine to digest the protein, carbohydrate, fats and absorb it into the body through villi projections in small intestines, thus a longer small intestine makes it more efficient for the omniverous diet of the pig to be digested and absorbed	The mean relative length of small intestine where 2.53 times longer than the cats body, the
spinal column	straight	bend
legs,	straight, pigs are heavy on weight and a strong and stable structure should be present to support the body frame	bend , usefull for a flexibility of a cat, cats donot have much body mass as their are natural hunters and need to have flexibility to have a faster locomotion and move around faster to hunt for their food