Frog Model

Quick Answer: The frog model is a zoological teaching model of a frog, the standard amphibian studied in school and college biology. A frog model lets students examine amphibian body form and, in dissected designs, the internal organs, without using a preserved or live animal.

The Frog as a Type Animal

The frog, traditionally Rana tigrina, now named Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, the Indian bullfrog, has long been the type amphibian in Indian zoology courses. Its external features show a life in two habitats: moist, glandular skin that also exchanges gases, bulging eyes protected by a nictitating membrane, a tympanum behind each eye, short forelimbs and long, webbed hind limbs for jumping and swimming. The adult has no neck and no tail.

Where a model is opened like a dissection, the organs follow the order of a textbook practical. At the front the heart, with its two atria above a single ventricle, sits between the paired lungs; beneath are the lobed liver with the gall bladder, the stomach, the coiled intestine and the cloaca, with kidneys, fat bodies and gonads further back. Models like this are how many courses now teach that practical content.

Whether this frog is shown whole or dissected, which species it follows and its size are not stated in the listing. Development from spawn to adult is covered by a separate life history model.

Specifications

Care & Handling

• Lift the frog model by its base, not by its limbs, which are thin at the toes.
• Clean the glossy surface with a slightly damp cloth, then dry it; avoid spirit-based cleaners.
• Keep any removable organs in a labelled container between lessons.

Using the Model in Class

• Amphibian characteristics and adaptations to land and water
• Comparing the three-chambered frog heart with fish and mammal hearts
• Tracing the frog’s digestive system from the buccal cavity to the cloaca
• Practical examinations in which organs are identified without dissection

Why Choose LabEquip

Zoology departments and schools that have stopped dissections but still teach the frog as a type animal need a model showing the same features. LabEquip lists this one in its biology lab products with the frog life history model. Ask about quantities and form through the contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many chambers does a frog heart have?

Three: two atria and a single ventricle. Oxygenated blood from the lungs and skin and deoxygenated blood from the body both enter the ventricle, where they are only partly kept apart by its spongy walls and the spiral valve of the conus arteriosus.

How does a frog breathe?

Adult frogs breathe through the lungs, through the moist lining of the mouth (buccal respiration) and through the skin (cutaneous respiration). When hibernating or underwater, skin breathing supplies most of their oxygen.

What is the cloaca?

The cloaca is the shared final chamber of the frog’s digestive, urinary and reproductive tracts. The rectum, the ducts from the kidneys and the ducts from the gonads all empty into it, and everything leaves through one vent at the rear of the body.

Why do schools use a frog model instead of dissection?

A model can be used again and again, needs no preserved animals or chemicals and avoids ethical concerns. Many universities and schools have moved away from animal dissection, so models and charts now carry that practical content.

Which frog species is studied in Indian zoology courses?

Textbooks traditionally describe Rana tigrina, now called Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, the Indian bullfrog. Its anatomy is typical of frogs in general, so a frog model serves the same syllabus.

What is the tympanum?

The tympanum is the circular eardrum visible behind each eye. It vibrates with sound and passes the vibration to the inner ear. Frogs have no external ear flap.

Last Updated: September 2026