You Have Dissected the Heart and Gastrocnemius Muscle from a Frog

Question

You have dissected the heart and gastrocnemius muscle from a frog. You observe that .
A) the heart contracts spontaneously, while the gastrocnemius has not contracted at all
B) the gastrocnemius continues to contract, while the heart ceases to beat
C) both muscles contract on the dissection tray

Accepted Answer

The heart of a frog, like that of other vertebrates, has the ability to contract spontaneously due to its inherent pacemaker cells, which do not require external stimuli to initiate contraction. In contrast, skeletal muscles like the gastrocnemius require neural stimuli to contract and will not do so spontaneously once removed from the body and no longer receiving such stimuli.