NCERT NOTES

CHAPTER-7 (STRUCTURAL ORGANISATION IN ANIMALS)

(FROG)
INTRODUCTION :

Systematic Position:

Kingdom-Animalia
Phylum- chordata
Subphylum-Vertebrata
Class- Amphibia
Order- Anura
Genus-Rana
Species-tigrina (indian species)
Habitat :-
 Frogs can live both on land and in freshwater. They do not have constant body
temperature i.e., their body temperature varies with the temperature of the
environment. Such animalsare called cold blooded or poikilotherms.
 Frogs are not seen during peak summer and winter. During this period they take
shelter in deep burrows to protect them from extreme heat and cold. This is known
as summer sleep (aestivation) and winter sleep (hibernation) respectively.

Defence/Adaptation :- They have the ability to change the colour to hide them from their
enemies (camouflage). This protective coloration is called mimicry.

MORPHOLOGY
 The skin is smooth and slippery due to the presence of mucus. The skin is always
maintained in a moist condition.
 The colour of dorsal side of body is generally olive green with dark irregular spots. On
the ventral side the skin is uniformly pale yellow.
 The frog never drinks water but absorb it through the skin.
 Body of a frog is divisible into head and trunk A neck and tail are absent.
 Above the mouth, a pair of nostrils is present. Eyes are bulged and covered by a
nictitating membrane that protects them while in water. On either side of eyes a
membranous tympanum (ear) receives sound signals.
 The forelimbs and hind limbs help in swimming, walking, leaping and burrowing. The
hind limbs end in five digits and they are larger and muscular than fore limbs that end
in four digits. Feet have webbed digits that help in swimming.
 Frogs exhibit sexual dimorphism (male and female individuals of the same species
are differentiated externally).
  Male frogs can be distinguished by the presence of sound producing vocal sacs and
also a copulatory pad on the first digit of the fore limbs which are absent in female
frogs.

ANATOMY:

The body cavity of frogs accommodate different organ systems such as

 digestive,
 circulatory,
 respiratory,
 nervous and
 reproductive systems with well developed structures and functions.

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

 The digestive system consists of alimentary canal and digestive glands.

 The alimentary canal is short because frogs are carnivores and hence the length of
intestine is reduced. The mouth opens into the buccal cavity that leads to the
oesophagus through pharynx. Oesophagus is a short tube that opens into the stomach
which in turn continues as the intestine, rectum and finally opens outside by the
cloaca.
 Liver secretes bile that is stored in the gall bladder.
 Pancreas, a digestive gland produces pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes.
 Food is captured by the bilobed tongue.
 Digestion of food takes place by the action of HCl and gastric juices secreted from the
walls of the stomach. Partially digested food called chyme is passed from stomach to
the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum. The duodenum receives bile from
gall bladder and pancreatic juices from the pancreas through a common bile duct. Bile
emulsifies fat and pancreatic juices digest carbohydrates and proteins.
 Final digestion takes place in the intestine. Digested food is absorbed by the
numerous finger-like folds in the inner wall of intestine called villi and microvilli. The
undigested solid waste moves into the rectum and passes out through cloaca.

RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

 Frogs respire on land and in the water by two different methods.

 In water, skin acts as aquatic respiratory organ (cutaneous respiration- or cutaneous
gas exchange or skin breathing, is a form of respiration in which gas
exchange occurs across the skin or outer integument of an organism rather
than gills or lungs.) . Dissolved oxygen in the water is exchanged through the skin by
diffusion.
 On land, the buccal cavity, skin and lungs act as the respiratory organs.
 The respiration by lungs is called pulmonary respiration. The lungs are a pair of
elongated, pink coloured sac-like structures present in the upper part of the trunk
region (thorax). Air enters through the nostrils into the buccal cavity and then to lungs.
 During aestivation and hibernation gaseous exchange takes place through skin.

CIECULATORY SYSTEM

 The vascular system of frog is well-developed closed type (the blood is enclosed in the
vessels and the heart while circulating ). Frogs have a lymphatic system also. The blood
vascular system involves heart, blood vessels and blood. The lymphatic system
consists of lymph, lymph channels and lymph nodes.
 Heart is a muscular structure situated in the upper part of the body cavity.
 It has three chambers, two atria and one ventricle and is covered by a membrane
called pericardium.
 A triangular structure called sinus venosus joins the right atrium. It receives blood
through the major veins called vena cava.
 The ventricle opens into a saclike conus arteriosus on the ventral side of the heart.
The blood from the heart is carried to all parts of the body by the arteries (arterial
system). The veins collect blood from different parts of body to the heart and form
the venous system.
 Special venous connection between liver and intestine as well as the kidney and
lower parts of the body are present in frogs. The former is called hepatic portal
system and the latter is called renal portal system.
 The blood is composed of plasma and cells. The blood cells are RBC (red blood cells)
or erythrocytes, WBC (white blood cells) or leucocytes and platelets. RBC’s are
nucleated and contain red coloured pigment namely haemoglobin. The lymph is
different from blood. It lacks few proteins and RBCs.
 The blood carries nutrients, gases and water to the respective sites during the
circulation. The circulation of blood is achieved by the pumping action of the muscular
heart.

NERVOUS SYSTEM

 The system for control and coordination is highly evolved in the frog. It includes both
neural system and endocrine glands.
 The chemical coordination of various organs of the body is achieved by hormones
which are secreted by the endocrine glands. The prominent endocrine glands found
in frog are pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, thymus, pineal body, pancreatic islets,
adrenals and gonads.
 The nervous system is organised into a central nervous system (brain and spinal cord),
a peripheral nervous system (cranial and spinal nerves) and an autonomic nervous
system (sympathetic and parasympathetic).
 There are ten pairs of cranial nerves arising from the brain.
 Brain is enclosed in a bony structure called brain box (cranium). The brain is divided
into fore-brain, mid-brain and hind-brain.
 Forebrain includes olfactory lobes, paired cerebral hemispheres and unpaired
diencephalon. The midbrain is characterised by a pair of optic lobes. Hind-brain
consists of cerebellum and medulla oblongata. The medulla oblongata passes out
 through the foramen magnum and continues into spinal cord, which is enclosed in the
vertebral column.

SENSE ORGANS :

 Frog has different types of sense organs, namely organs of touch (sensory papillae),
taste (taste buds), smell (nasal epithelium), vision (eyes) and hearing (tympanum
with internal ears).
 Out of these, eyes and internal ears are well-organised structures and the rest are
cellular aggregations around nerve endings. Eyes in a frog are a pair of spherical
structures situated in the orbit in skull. These are simple eyes (possessing only one
unit).
 External ear is absent in frogs and only tympanum can be seen externally. The ear is
an organ of hearing as well as balancing (equilibrium).

REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

 Frogs have well organised male and female reproductive systems.

 Male reproductive organs consist of a pair of yellowish ovoid testes which are found
adhered to the upper part of kidneys by a double fold of peritoneum called
mesorchium. Vasa efferentia are 10-12 in number that arise from testes. They enter
the kidneys on their side and open into Bidder’s canal. Finally it communicates with
the urinogenital duct that comes out of the kidneys and opens into the cloaca. The
cloaca is a small, median chamber that is used to pass faecal matter, urine and sperms
to the exterior.
 The female reproductive organs include a pair of ovaries..The ovaries are situated
near kidneys and there is no functional connection with kidneys. A pair of oviduct
arising from the ovaries opens into the cloaca separately. A mature female can lay
2500 to 3000 ova at a time.
 Fertilisation is external and takes place in water.
 Development involves a larval stage called tadpole. Tadpole undergoes
metamorphosis to form the adult.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

 Frogs are beneficial for mankind because they eat insects and protect the crop.
 Frogs maintain ecological balance because these serve as an important link of food
chain and food web in the ecosystem.
 In some countries the muscular legs of frog are used as food by man.
Digestive system of frog
CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM OF FROG