QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by BRETZ, W. L. Articles by SCHMIDT-NIELSEN, K. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by BRETZ, W. L. Articles by SCHMIDT-NIELSEN, K.

Journal of Experimental Biology 56,57-65 (1972)
Published by Company of Biologists 1972

The Movement of Gas in the Respiratory System of the Duck

W. L. BRETZ ¹ and KNUT SCHMIDT-NIELSEN ²

¹ Department of Zoology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27706, U.S.A.
² Department of Zoology, Duke University Durham, North Carolina 27706, U.S.A.

1. A single inhalation of marker gas (argon) was administered to unanaesthetized ducks. P_argon was continuously monitored in the interclavicular, cranial thoracic, caudal thoracic and abdominal air sacs with a mass spectrometer during the marked inspiration and subsequent respiratory cycles.

2. The sequence of arrival times of the inspired marker at the various sampling sites was determined; ventilation rates of the different air sacs were compared by examining the rate of decrease of P_ar during washout of each sac.

3. The experimental results agree with previously proposed patterns of air flow in the duck respiratory system.

4. It is proposed that the movement of gas in the respiratory system of birds is a two-cycle event. During the inspiratory phase of the first cycle, inhaled air is drawn into the posterior air sacs; during the expiratory phase of the first cycle, this air (having mixed with the residual air in the posterior air sacs) is pumped into the secondary and tertiary bronchi of the lung; during the inspiratory phase of the second cycle this air in the lung passage-ways is drawn into the anterior air sacs; and finally, during the expiratory phase of the second cycle, this air is exhaled from the anterior air sacs and the respiratory system.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. M. Plummer and F. Goller Singing with reduced air sac volume causes uniform decrease in airflow and sound amplitude in the zebra finch J. Exp. Biol., January 1, 2008; 211(1): 66 - 78. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Franz and F. Goller Respiratory patterns and oxygen consumption in singing zebra finches J. Exp. Biol., March 15, 2003; 206(6): 967 - 978. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]