Breathing and Exchange of Gases

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Respiration is the process by which foodstuffs are oxidised in cells to release bond energy for use in the body. It is a catabolic process involving stepwise degradation of organic food materials, and…

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Respiratory organs are the organs concerned with gaseous exchange, that is, intake of oxygen and output of carbon dioxide. In different animals, these may be general body surface, tracheae, gills, or …

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Amoeba exchanges gases through its general body surface, the plasmalemma. Oxygen diffuses into the cytoplasm and carbon dioxide diffuses out into the surrounding water. No special respiratory organ is…

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Parapodia are thin, unjointed, leg-like flattened outgrowths in Nereis. They help in locomotion and also in gaseous exchange because they contain extensive capillary networks close to the surface.

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Cutaneous respiration is gaseous exchange through the skin over the entire body surface. Earthworms and leeches respire in this way. Frogs and toads also use moist skin for gas exchange, especially du…

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Insects use tracheal respiration because their skin is impermeable to gases, which helps reduce water loss. Their respiratory system consists of branched tracheae that open through spiracles and end i…

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Gills are specialized respiratory organs of aquatic animals such as prawns, fish, and tadpoles. They are made of gill plates with gill lamellae and are richly supplied with blood capillaries for effic…

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Lungs are efficient because they contain 300 to 400 million alveoli in an adult lung, giving about 140 square metres of alveolar surface area. The capillary surface area is about 125 square metres, al…