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The sea slug Pleurobranchaea meckelii respires using a gill which is visible in this view of the right side of the animal. In gastropods in many ancient lineages, the gills are bipectinate, having an overall shape that is similar to a bird's feather, with narrow filaments projecting either side of a central stalk.
The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies greatly, depending on the size of the organism, the environment in which it lives and its evolutionary ...
An Alpine chough in flight at 3,900 m (12,800 ft). Organisms can live at high altitude, either on land, in water, or while flying.Decreased oxygen availability and decreased temperature make life at such altitudes challenging, though many species have been successfully adapted via considerable physiological changes.
In very small animals, plants and bacteria, simple diffusion of gaseous metabolites is sufficient for respiratory function and no special adaptations are found to aid respiration. Passive diffusion or active transport are also sufficient mechanisms for many larger aquatic animals such as many worms, jellyfish, sponges, bryozoans and similar ...
The spiracles are located laterally along the thorax and abdomen of most insects—usually one pair of spiracles per body segment. Air flow is regulated by small muscles that operate one or two flap-like valves within each spiracle—contracting to close the spiracle, or relaxing to open it.
Aquatic animals generally conduct gas exchange in water by extracting dissolved oxygen via specialised respiratory organs called gills, through the skin or across enteral mucosae, although some are evolved from terrestrial ancestors that re-adapted to aquatic environments (e.g. marine reptiles and marine mammals), in which case they actually ...
Cloaca of a red-tailed hawk. A cloaca (/ k l oʊ ˈ eɪ k ə / ⓘ kloh-AY-kə), pl.: cloacae (/ k l oʊ ˈ eɪ s i / kloh-AY-see or / k l oʊ ˈ eɪ k i / kloh-AY-kee), or vent, is the rear orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive (), reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals.
Enteral respiration, also referred to as cloacal respiration or intestinal respiration, [1] is a form of respiration in which gas exchange occurs across the epithelia of the enteral system, usually in the caudal cavity .