Rat Circulatory System?

This is very similar to that of humans.

1. Blood from the posterior portion of the body enters the right atrium of the heart through the inferior vena cava and the superior vena cava.

2. Blood flows from the right atrium to the right ventricle via the tricuspid valve.

3. Blood is then pumped through the pulmonary semilunar valve and into the pulmonary trunk where blood travels to the lungs.

4. Blood then flows through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs where it is oxygenated and then returns from the lungs to enter the left atrium via four pulmonary veins.

5. Blood goes from the left atrium to the left ventricle via the biscupid (or mitral) valve.

Blood leaves the left ventricle of the heart through the aortic semilunar valve and enters the aorta. The aorta has a visible arch with vessels that lead to the head before the artery descends into the rat's thoracic cavity.

The aorta has four general areas:

• Ascending aorta - the upper part of the vessel that starts at the atrium.
• Aortic arch - the place where the aorta bends to the left.
• Descending aorta - after the bend, the aorta can be traced toward the diaphragm.
• Abdominal aorta - the aorta passes through the diaphragm and supplies blood to the lower extremities.

Let me know if this helps.

Looks good, I left out the superior vena cava because the book says those transport blood from the head and neck only (one diagram actually labels them as "cranial vena cava"), and I had to look up a few more arteries to get to the right front leg specifically (innominate artery and right subclavian artery), but you got me through most of it. The start was what was giving me trouble, I couldn't figure out what was carrying oxygenated/deoxygenated blood.

Could you post your answer once you're done, I'm still really confused!