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Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words αἷμα haima "blood" and φαγεῖν phagein "to eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without great effort, hematophagy is a preferred form of ...
Animal venoms contain enzymes and other proteins that are haemotoxic or neurotoxic or occasionally both (as in the Mojave rattlesnake, the Japanese mamushi, [1] and similar species). In addition to killing the prey, part of the function of a haemotoxic venom for some animals is to aid digestion.
Although the respiratory function of hemocyanin is similar to that of hemoglobin, there are a significant number of differences in its molecular structure and mechanism. Whereas hemoglobin carries its iron atoms in porphyrin rings ( heme groups), the copper atoms of hemocyanin are bound as prosthetic groups coordinated by histidine residues.
In feeding on blood, the flies use their mouthparts to initiate bleeding from the host. They then suck up the exposed blood. Like practically all blood-feeding parasites, they inject biochemicals that inhibit blood clotting, plus some that stimulate host mast cells to produce histamine; this distends capillary vessels, thereby promoting blood flow.
Their food source is the blood of other animals, a dietary trait called hematophagy. Three extant bat species feed solely on blood: the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata), and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi). Two extinct species of the genus Desmodus have been found in North ...
The prey is usually sucked in and swallowed whole. Some Rhynchobdellida however suck the soft tissues from their prey, making them intermediate between predators and blood-suckers. [38] Leech attacking a slug. Blood-sucking leeches use their anterior suckers to connect to hosts for feeding.
Tardigrades feed by sucking animal or plant cell fluids, or on detritus. A pair of stylets pierce the prey; the pharynx muscles then pump the fluids from the prey into the gut. A pair of salivary glands secrete a digestive fluid into the mouth, and produce replacement stylets each time the animal molts. [3]
The native Old English word for it is milt, now primarily used for animals; a loanword from Latin is lien. The spleen plays very important roles in regard to red blood cells (erythrocytes) and the immune system. [2] It removes old red blood cells and holds a reserve of blood, which can be valuable in case of hemorrhagic shock, and also recycles ...