Turning crocodilian hearts into bird hearts: growth rates are similar for alligators with and without right-to-left cardiac shunt.

The Journal of Experimental Biology
John EmeJames W Hicks

Abstract

The functional and possible adaptive significance of non-avian reptiles' dual aortic arch system and the ability of all non-avian reptiles to perform central vascular cardiac shunts have been of great interest to comparative physiologists. The unique cardiac anatomy of crocodilians - a four-chambered heart with the dual aortic arch system - allows for only right-to-left (R-L; pulmonary bypass) cardiac shunt and for surgical elimination of this shunt. Surgical removal of the R-L shunt, by occluding the left aorta (LAo) upstream and downstream of the foramen of Panizza, results in a crocodilian with an obligatory, avian/mammalian central circulation. In this study, R-L cardiac shunt was eliminated in age-matched, female American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis; 5-7 months of age). We tested the hypothesis that surgical elimination of R-L cardiac shunt would impair growth (a readily measured proxy for fitness) compared with sham-operated, age-matched controls, especially in animals subjected to exhaustive exercise. While regular exercise caused a decrease in size (snout-to-vent length, head length and body mass), elimination of the capacity for R-L cardiac shunt did not greatly reduce animal growth, despite a chronic ventri...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 6, 2010·Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology·John EmeJames W Hicks
Mar 1, 2012·Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology·B BagattoJ W Hicks
May 25, 2011·Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology·Bjarke JensenTobias Wang
Jun 4, 2011·Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology·Michael Axelsson, Craig E Franklin
Sep 4, 2013·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Bjarke JensenTobias Wang
Nov 3, 2016·Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology·Renato FilogonioCléo A C Leite
Mar 30, 2013·Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology·John EmeDane A Crossley
Sep 15, 2017·Journal of Anatomy·Andrea StephensonMauro Vaccarezza
Dec 17, 2016·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Christian Lind MalteTobias Wang
Oct 27, 2018·Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part A, Ecological and Integrative Physiology·John EmeRuth M Elsey
Feb 23, 2019·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Justin L ConnerDane A Crossley
Dec 21, 2019·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Warren BurggrenTobias Wang
Nov 10, 2017·Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology·Edwin R Price, Edward M Dzialowski
Sep 13, 2018·Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease·Bjarke Jensen, Theodoor H Smit
Oct 14, 2020·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Alena KvasilovaMartina Gregorovicova
Feb 10, 2019·Zoology : Analysis of Complex Systems, ZACS·F Clarac, A Quilhac
Jul 19, 2011·Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology·Manuela N GardnerDavid R Jones

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