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Every living organism breathes in one way or the other to survive. We human beings breathe through our lungs. But why do we need to breathe? This is because our cells are the most basic functional unit of our body. They are working every minute to perform tasks in our body like nutrition, transportation, excretion, etc. Respiration provides energy to these cells through the food we eat. Now, there are a wide variety of living organisms and there are multiple ways they perform respiration. Breathing in other animals depends on many factors such as the habitat, the environment, the physical structure of animals, etc. In this article, we will have a look at breathing in other animals such as lower organisms, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, etc.
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Breathing in amphibians Frogs
Amphibians are vertebrates that can survive in both water and land. Because of this, they perform different ways of respiration in their lifecycle. Three ways of respiration process are found in frogs.
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- Cutaneous: Respiration occurs through skin by diffusion.
- Branchial: It occurs through gills.
- Pulmonary: It occurs through the lungs.
Cutaneous respiration is mainly found in toads, salamanders, etc.
Most of the amphibians take birth in water as tadpoles. In this stage, they use gills and skin to perform respiration. Frog tadpoles have large tail fins which have a large surface area and are richly supplied with blood capillaries.
Breathing in Amphibians
As the tadpoles grow up, the gills or fins (in the case of frogs) degenerate and pairs of lungs start to develop but they retain their gills throughout their life. When on land they breathe air through their mouth and not by nostrils.
Also read: Difference between amphibians and reptiles
Breathing in Lower Organisms
Lower organisms lack breathing organs. They are so small that they cannot have any respiratory system. They respire through the exchange of gases with the surrounding. They take in air and water through diffusion through their outer membrane.
Ex- Amoeba, Paramecium, etc.
Breathing in Earthworms
Earthworms lack a specific respiratory system. They breathe air through their skins and are mostly found in the top layers of soil and use hemoglobin from their blood to extract oxygen from the wet soil. The skin of earthworms is found to be moist and slimy. This slimy fluid is secreted by its body to keep it moist. Transfer of gases is easily carried out through their skins. This property of their skin is called permeability.
Breathing in Earthworms
Breathing in mammals
Breathing in mammals is carried out by the lungs. Their lungs are divided internally. These subdivisions supply gas to the alveoli that are gaseous exchange surfaces inside the lungs. Inhalation of air leads to expansion of the chest which leads to a decrease in pressure inside the lungs. The diaphragm plays an important role in it. It pushes itself downward to make space for the chest cavity to expand.
During exhalation, the diaphragm pushes the lungs upward leading to release in the air.
The intake of air differs in different mammals. Humans breathe through nostrils, while some mammals breathe through the mouth.
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There are four types of breathing in mammals:
Hyperpnea: Forced breathing that requires muscle contractions.
Eupnea: Normal breathing without much muscle contraction
Costal breathing: mode of breathing that requires contraction of intercostal muscles
Diaphragmatic breathing: Involves full engagement of stomach and diaphragm.
Respiration in Mammals
Breathing in reptiles
Reptiles are animals who have scales over their skin, lay eggs, and are cold-blooded. They have skin that is not permeable to water, to prevent desiccation. They breathe through their lungs mostly. They are found to have more complex lungs than mammals and amphibians. They intake air by the muscular expansion of their ribcage just like us. Crocodiles and alligators have a special type of muscle on the outer surface of the liver. The liver is also attached to the lungs so when this muscle contracts it pulls the liver, and hence the lungs expand.
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Tortoises and turtles have rigid shells over their body. When turtles bring their limbs out of their shell, the internal pressure is decreased due to their shell and air can enter inside. When they bring their limbs inside their shell, it results in expiration.
Ex- Snakes, Crocodiles, Turtles, etc.
Respiratory System of Reptiles
Breathing in Aquatic Animals (Breathing underwater)
There are a lot of organisms living in the water than in the ground. Gills are found in fish which helps them to breathe. The projection of their skin is known as gills. Gills are used as respiratory organs in most aquatic animals. These allow them to exchange gases from water. There are some fishes whose gills are not exposed outside, rather they are covered behind gill coverings.
Breathing through gills
Gills have a thin, flat scale type of membrane called lamella which extracts the oxygen present in the water through diffusion. During expiration, the carbon dioxide is brought to gills by the blood vessels and then is diffused to the surrounding.
However, some species like whales and dolphins don’t have gills. They have nostrils that are present at top of their heads which allows them to breathe air. They have to come to the surface to breathe air from time to time. Their nostrils are also known as blowholes.
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Breathing in birds
Birds need a lot of energy while flying and that’s why they are able to intake a large amount of air. On the other hand, birds are found to have small lungs as compared to humans but it is connected to voluminous air sacs by a series of tubes making their total volume double that of mammals of comparable size. Alveoli are the key unit in respiration in humans but they are not present in birds. Birds have parabronchi in place of alveoli and these are richly supplied with capillaries.
Breathing in birds
Lungs do not have the ability to expand since they lack a diaphragm. The air sacs are not involved directly in breathing but they provide extreme support to the lungs. While breathing, the sacs expand and allow air to get inside. Expiration is caused by compression of air sacs by skeleton muscle.
The air sacs present in birds also act as thermoregulators since they produce excessive heat while flying and they do not have sweat glands like other mammals.
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Breathing in Invertebrates
Invertebrates are those animals that don’t have a backbone and are cold-blooded. Most of the insects belong to this group and also some of the aquatic animals like jellyfish, mollusks, etc. Most invertebrates use gills or trachea for the breathing process. It is known that insects are found to have external openings called spiracles. The spiracles are not open always but they open periodically to prevent loss of moisture.
Respiratory System of Invertebrates
There are tracheal tubes present which is subdivided into smaller sections such that it reaches every part of the body. These spirals take in the oxygen from the air through spiracles into the tracheal tubes, diffuses into the body tissues which ends up reaching the cells in their body. Similarly, the carbon dioxide comes out from tracheal tubes and then through spiracles. Most of the insects are found to have trachea and spiracles.
Ex- Cockroaches, octopuses, jellyfish are some of the examples of invertebrates.
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Cockroaches
Cockroaches are on earth for more than 300 million years, way before dinosaurs existed. They have small openings on the sides of their body called spiracles that take in the oxygen from the air into the tracheal tubes and diffuse into the body tissues which ends up reaching the cells in their body. Similarly, the carbon dioxide comes out from tracheal tubes and then through spiracles.
Breathing in Cockroaches
Things to remember
- Most of the insects have small openings in their body which are called spiracles which allow air to enter the trachea.
- Earthworms use hemoglobin from their blood to extract oxygen from the wet soil.
- Amphibians are vertebrates that can survive in both water and land.
- As the tadpoles grow up, the gills or fins degenerate and pairs of lungs start to develop.
- Birds lack alveoli, they have parabronchi which are richly supplied with capillaries.
- Gills have a thin, flat scale type of membrane called lamella which extracts the oxygen present in the water through diffusion.
- Lungs don’t have the ability to expand in the case of birds, but the air sacs provide support to intake more air.
- The lungs of birds are completely ventilated in a single direction during both inspiration and expiration
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Sample Questions
Ques. What are the organs needed to breathe? (1 mark)
Ans. Different animals use different kinds of respiratory organs like skin, gills, lungs, a tracheal system, etc to breathe.
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Ques. Write a short note on respiration in amphibians? (3 marks)
Ans. Amphibians can live in both water and land. Therefore, they can breathe in different ways. Most of them take birth in water as tadpoles and use gills to breathe.
When they grow, they start to develop lungs and inhale air through their lungs.
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Ques. Write a short note on respiration in fish? (3 marks)
Ans. Gills are found in fish, which helps them to breathe. Gills are used as respiratory organs in most aquatic animals. The projection of their skin is called gills. These allow them to exchange gases from water. There are some fishes whose gills are not exposed outside, rather are covered behind gill coverings.
Ques. Which animals use diffusion as a breathing process? (2 marks)
Ans. Flatworms ‘breathe’ through diffusion across the outer membrane. The surface area for diffusion is more due to the flat shape, ensuring that each cell within the body is close to the outer membrane surface and has access to oxygen.
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Ques. Which animal has the largest lungs? Explain in brief. (3 marks)
Ans. The world’s largest lungs are found in blue whales.
- Its two lungs have a combined, total capacity of about 5000 liters of air.
- Extremely efficient, its enormous lungs have the capability to transfer more than 90% of its inhaled air into its bloodstream.
Ques. State the difference between the respiration system in birds and animals. (5 marks)
Ans. The differences between the respiratory system of birds and animals are:
| Birds | Animals |
|---|---|
| They have parabronchi | They have alveoli |
| Diaphragm is absent | Diaphragm is present |
| They need more energy while at rest | They need less energy while at rest |
| Unidirectional respiration | Bidirectional respiration |
| Lungs cannot expand. They have air sacs | Lungs can expand. Air sacs are absent |
Ques. How do birds breathe? Explain in detail. (5 marks)
Ans. Birds require much more energy while flying and even when at rest. Their lungs are small but are composed of voluminous sacs which allow them to intake a high amount of air. In place of alveoli, parabronchi are found in birds that are very rich in capillaries. While inhaling the lungs do not expand because they lack the diaphragm like other mammals but the air sacs expand and support the lungs.
The process of respiration is unidirectional and in the opposite direction of blood flow. It increases the efficiency of gaseous exchange to a great limit. The air sacs present in birds also act as thermoregulators since they produce excessive heat while flying and they do not have sweat glands like other mammals.
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Ques. Explain the three types of breathing with examples. (5 marks)
Ans. The three types of breathing are cutaneous breathing, pulmonary breathing, and branchial breathing.
- Cutaneous breathing- This type of breathing mechanism is found in small organisms like an amoeba, paramecium, etc. Air is passed to the body through the skin by diffusion and carbon dioxide is released in the same way.
- Branchial breathing- Breathing is carried out with the help of gills. Gills are nothing but the projection of skin outside their body.
Ex- most of the fishes
- Pulmonary breathing- Breathing is carried out with the help of the lungs. Air is inhaled by nostrils or mouth which then passes through the larynx and pharynx and enters the lungs where gaseous exchange takes place.
Ex- humans, dogs, etc
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