Figure 1
Figure 2
Ventral View
Figure 3
Mouse dissection for Principles of Biology
(Adapted from web material and illustrations by J.M. Ward and Erin Parsoneault;
http://biology.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.geocities.com/virtualbiology/necropsy.html)
1. Check to see if the mouse is okay on the outside. There should be no obvious
wounds, punctures or cuts. If so, notify staff . The mouse is left-right as
diagramed in Figure 1.
2. First, pin the animal down with his/her belly facing up. With ethanol, wet the
animal down. By washing the carcass with ethanol, you are protecting the
tissues from artifacts caused by hair dragging through them.
3. With your forceps, grab hold of the skin anteriorly to the urethral opening.
Using your scissors- cut along the ventral midline from the groin to the chin,
being careful to only cut the skin and not the muscle wall underneath (See
diagram for location of incisions).
4. Next, make an incision from the start of the first incision downward to the knee
on both sides of the animal. Basically, you will end up with an incision that
looks very similar to an upside down “Y” (Figure 2) .
5. Pull the skin back on the sides and you are ready for the examination (See
Figure 3). You can see the underlying organs through the peritoneal wall as
diagramed in the drawing.
