Muscular Overview
Muscular Overview Objectives
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Describe key “athletic” attributes of different animal species.
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List and identify different sectional planes, including transverse, sagittal, and frontal cuts.
We’re starting the muscular system with a comparison between humans and other species. Watch each video and be prepared to describe key “athletic” attributes of each species.
Cheetah
Kangaroo Rat
Pronghorn
Tiger
Pronghorn
Chimpanzee
Humans
Mark Summarizes
Before we get too far into the muscular system, we need to talk about how we look at organs and tissues. Often when we study organs we are only looking at small pieces, not the entire organ. It matters what direction we are looking in, whether it is the length of an organ, or a cross-section. This video introduces sectional planes.
Microanatomy is the study of tissues and cells under the microscope. Knowing the plane you are viewing is important in identifying structures.
These images show two different planar cuts through skeletal muscle (100x)
Notice how different these look. It would be possible to think skeletal muscle cells are just round balls instead of long tubes if you just saw the transverse cut.
Sagittal (lengthwise)
Transverse (cross-section)
The next section explores the human muscular system in more detail.
Check your knowledge. Can you:
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describe key “athletic” attributes of different animal species?
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list and identify different sectional planes, including transverse, sagittal, and frontal cuts?
Go back to the Muscular Guide Overview
Go forward to the Muscle Structure Page
Muscular Lecture Guide Contents
The material from this guide and corresponding lecture is assessed on the weekly quiz.
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