Fig. 1. The crocodilian central circulation, ventral view. The right ventricle (RV)
maintains connections to both the pulmonary circuit via the pulmonary
artery (PA) and the systemic circuit via the left aorta (LAo), which
continues as the coeliac artery (CA). The subpulmonary conus contains a
muscular cog-wheel valve (CWV, made of cartilagenous teeth and surrounded by
cardiac muscle), the contraction of which can occlude the entrance to the
pulmonary artery. The right aorta (RAo) receives blood from the left ventricle
(LV), gives rise to the common carotid artery (CCA) and the right/left
subclavian arteries (R/LSA) and then continues as the dorsal aorta (DAo). The
left and right aortas connect twice, just outside the ventricles through the
foramen of Panizza (FP) and behind the heart via an anastomosis
(JJ).
