The Anatomy and Physiology of Laboratory Rat

Abstract

The laboratory rat is commonly used as an experimental model in biomedical research. Characteristics such as short life span, ease of breeding, short generation time, and requirement of smaller space have made laboratory rats as the most commonly used experimental animals along with mice in the field of basic and applied research. Animal studies fetch the best results by making the right choices of animal models. Despite decades of basic research done and data generated on rodent anatomy and physiology, researchers tend to overlook the proximity of these details to the human system while testing and selecting the right model and testing their hypothesis. This chapter reviews the important points of anatomy and physiology of laboratory rats in comparison to humans for a better understanding of the subject. The main focus has been on salient anatomical features of laboratory rat which is different and unique and may influence experimental design and outcome. Applied knowledge related to the husbandry of laboratory rats has also been covered.