Frog Blood Smear Under the Microscope
Frog Blood Smear, Rana temporaria
This is a smear of frog blood stained with Giemsa. Frog red blood cells are large, oval, and have a nucleus, which makes them easy to see and good for comparing with human blood.
This is a blood smear from a frog (Rana temporaria), a thin layer of blood spread on a slide and stained. Almost every cell here is a red blood cell. Frog red blood cells are large and oval, and each one has a nucleus in the middle. Human red blood cells are smaller, round, and have no nucleus. Comparing the two shows one way that amphibian blood differs from mammal blood.
What to look for
- Red blood cells: Large oval cells with pinkish cytoplasm and a dark purple oval nucleus in the center.
- White blood cells: Rounder cells with larger or oddly shaped nuclei, far fewer than red cells.
- Thrombocytes: Small cells with a nucleus that help blood clot.
Questions and answers
What does frog blood look like under a microscope?
Frog blood is mostly large, oval red blood cells with a dark nucleus in the middle of each one. A few white blood cells and small thrombocytes are scattered among them.
How is frog blood different from human blood?
Frog red blood cells are oval, have a nucleus, and are much larger, roughly two to three times the length of a human red blood cell. Human red blood cells are small, round, and have no nucleus.
Compare it
- Category
- Vertebrates
- Scan magnification
- 20x
- Stain
- Giemsa
Viewing this slide in class
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