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Mortola, Jacopo P.; Seguin, Julie
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2009 |
End-tidal CO2 in some aquatic mammals of large size.
Zoology 112(2): 77-85. 1 tab. 6 figs. DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2008.06.001. Mar. 2009.
–ABSTRACT: While resting on land or at the water surface, the breathing frequency (f) of aquatic mammals of medium and large size is lower than in terrestrial mammals of similar body weight (W), the difference widening with the increase in W. The allometric function for aquatic mammals is f?W?0.42 (f, breaths/min, W, kg) and that of terrestrial species is f?W?0.25. We asked whether or not resting breathing at such low f would entail high values of alveolar CO2. End-tidal alveolar CO2 pressure, taken as representative of alveolar CO2 pressure, PaCO2, was measured from the expired gas during resting breathing in captive specimens of aquatic species trained to rest in proximity of their keepers, either on land (walrus and sea lion) or at the water surface (dolphin, orca, beluga and hippopotamus). Their f during the recordings ranged from less than 1 (orca) to 6 (walrus) breaths/min. The average PaCO2 values ranged from 32 to 42 mm Hg, the peaks being a few mm Hg higher. These values were similar or slightly higher than literature data of many terrestrial species, with no relation to the animal f or W. The quasi-normality of PaCO2 in large aquatic species breathing at rest, despite their exceptionally low f and normal metabolism, can be explained mainly by two factors, their large tidal volume/W, about three times the average terrestrial value, and their peculiar breathing pattern with sustained high lung volume during the expiratory pause. This latter is key in avoiding a substantial rise in PaCO2 during the inter-breath pause.
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Mortola, Jacopo P.
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2015 |
The heart rate - breathing rate relationship in aquatic mammals: A comparative analysis with terrestrial species.
CURRENT ZOOLOGY 61 (4):569-577. August 2015.
–ABSTRACT- Aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals, while resting at the water surface or ashore, breathe with a low frequency (f) by comparison to terrestrial mammals of the same body size, the difference increasing the larger the species. Among various interpretations, it was suggested that the low-f breathing is a consequence of the end-inspiratory breath-holding pattern adopted by aquatic mammals to favour buoyancy at the water surface, and evolved to be part of the genetic makeup. If this interpretation was correct it could be expected that, differently from f, the heart rate (HR, beats/min) of aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals at rest would not need to differ from that of terrestrial mammals and that their HR-f ratio would be higher than in terrestrial species. Literature data for HR (beats/min) in mammals at rest were gathered for 56 terrestrial and 27 aquatic species. In aquatic mammals the allometric curve (HR=191.M-0.18; M= body mass, kg) did not differ from that of terrestrial species (HR=212.M-0.22) and their HR-f ratio (on average 32+/-5) was much higher than in terrestrial species (5+/-1) (P<0.0001). The comparison of these HR allometric curves to those for f previously published indicated that the HR-f ratio was body size-independent in terrestrial species while it increased significantly with M in aquatic species. The similarity in HR and differences in f between aquatic and terrestrial mammals agree with the possibility that the low f of aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals may have evolved for a non-respiratory function, namely the regulation of buoyancy at the water surface.
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