Metabolic and mechanical costs of ventilation in turtles

• Grant number: 12/18652-1
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: March 01, 2013 - October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Compared Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Wilfried Klein
• Grantee: Wilfried Klein
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The vertebrate respiratory system not only consists of a gas exchanger but also of anatomical mechanisms to ventilate and perfuse the gas exchange organ. To understand the structure, function and evolution of respiratory systems it is necessary to comprehend the nature of interaction between its components by studying the morphology of a respiratory system, its ventilatory mechanisms, its breathing mechanics, as well as the efficiency of gas exchange and the associated metabolic costs. All of these data together have been investigated in detail in only a few species, existing few data on the reptilian respiratory system. This project intends to study the following aspects of the respiratory system in species from different turtle families: ventilatory pattern; breathing mechanics, by determining static and dynamic compliance; metabolic cost of ventilation; morphological data describing the respiratory system and associated structures. The integration of morphological data with breathing mechanics, metabolic cost of ventilation, oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production could elucidate the functioning and importance of the respiratory system of turtles. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

TREVIZAN-BAU, PEDRO; ABE, AUGUSTO S.; KLEIN, WILFRIED. Effects of environmental hypoxia and hypercarbia on ventilation and gas exchange in Testudines. PeerJ, v. 6, JUL 11 2018. Web of Science Citations: 2.

CORDEIRO, TABATA E. F.; ABE, AUGUSTO S.; KLEIN, WILFRIED. Ventilation and gas exchange in two turtles: Podocnemis unifilis and Phrynops geoffroanus (Testudines: Pleurodira). Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, v. 224, n. SI, p. 125-131, APR 2016. Web of Science Citations: 3.