Vertebrate

Respiration
Bi 150/150.1
Functions
 Intake and distribution of oxygen, elimination of carbon
dioxide
 Passive diffusion: simplest form
 Dependent on surface area and difference in partial
pressures
 Ventilation – passage of air or water over respiratory
surface
 Perfusion – driving of blood through capillaries
 Differ with regard to habitat
 Unidirectional vs. bidirectional
Basic: Origins of the Organs
 Gills: from pharyngeal slits
 Lungs: endodermal outpocketings from the gut
 Gas bladders: may be homologous to lungs
Ventilatory Mechanisms
 Ciliatory mechanisms
 Muscular mechanisms
 Dual Pump (water ventilation) – in most fishes
 Buccal Pump (air ventilation)
 Two-stroke – in air-breathing fishes and most
amphibians
 Four-stroke – in some salamanders
 Aspiration Pump (air ventilation) – in amniotes
http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1095643310000838-gr2.jpg
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Two_stroke_buc
cal_pumping.jpg/400px-Two_stroke_buccal_pumping.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Four_stroke_buccal_pumping.jpg/800px-Four_stroke_buccal_pumping.jpg
http://www.cvphysiology.com/Cardiac%20Function/abdominothoracic%20pump%20animated.gif
 Phylogeny of the System
 Elasmobranchii
 Countercurrent flow across gills
 Ram ventilation (obligate in some)
 First gill slit reduced to spiracle

http://www.shark-info.com/images/respiration.jpg
 Osteichthyes
 Operculum covers the gills
 Some use gas bladders (sometimes connected to the
buccal cavity via the pneumatic duct)

http://www.goldfishworld.com/images/gill_gross_view.jpg
 Amphibia
 Gill ventilation as juveniles
 Cutaneous respiration and lung ventilation as adults
 Reptilia
 Single central air chamber with faveoli
(compartments that increase surface area and are
sites of gas exchange)
 Aspiration (exhalation sometimes passive)
 Snake lungs singular and divided into respiratory and
saccular portions
 Crocodile livers act as pistons.
 Limb movement important in turtles
 Birds
 Passageways branch off into parabronchi
(unidirectional)
 With 6-12 (usually nine) avascular air sacs, which
extend into the cores of large bones
 Crosscurrent flow
 Mammals
 Extensive use of diaphragm and intercostals
 With alveoli (bidirectional)
 Viscera also assist in respiration.
Functional considerations
 Types of flow
 Ventilation and perfusion rates should be
balanced (ratios depend on ecology)
 Metabolic costs of living in water vs. air
 Regulation of blood pH levels