If you can choose one great power of the animal kingdom, many people may want to be able to breathe under the water. Naval ecosystems have long been fascinated by human beings, which led to the development of specialized equipment and technologies to extend the time you spend in surfing. Unlike humans, marine mammals have developed noticeable adjustments that allow them to keep their breath for long periods, allowing them to prosper in water environments.
It was traditionally believed that mammals, including marine species, depend on the high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in their blood to indicate when you need to breathe. This is because oxygen levels are not directly visible to the brain.
However, a conversation Ticket Posted in sciences By researchers from the Marine Mammal Research Unit at St. Andrews University in Scotland revealed that the wild seals have a unique ability: they can actually feel directly the levels of oxygen in the blood.
Editing and underwater seals
Deep diving in this research was inspired by the attention of the main author Chris McKenite in the absolute elite-athletes who pay the limits of human respiration capabilities in specializations based on depth, time and distance. Competitive editing is strictly organized to prevent accidents, however electrical power outages are still due to oxygen deprivation (fainting of oxygen deficiency).
While the average person can breathe for 30 to 90 seconds, this trained editors can extend between 3 and 10 minutes. By working with these athletes, McKenite has seen many power outages, which occur when the body lacks adequate oxygen.
In an interview on Science podcastMcknight explained that freeedives loses consciousness because their bodies depend on carbon dioxide levels to dictate when they go. The desire to breathe, the so -called hunger with air, is primarily driven by increasing carbon dioxide instead of reducing oxygen levels.
However, when it comes to seals – animals are able to carry their breath for more than an hour – it was suspected of using a different strategy. His assumption was that the seals should have a sensory mechanism that directly discover the oxygen levels instead of relying on carbon dioxide, because oxygen is the decisive gas to survive.
Read more: Are leopard seals dangerous as you think?
The seals respond directly to the oxygen levels
The test of this hypothesis in wild seals has proven more difficult than the study of the human freedoms. To conduct their research, MCKNight and his team brought six gray seals as a rising juvenile (Halichoerus Gripus) In the marine mammal research unit. Seals were trained to participate in the mission of a simulator feed, swimming between the control room that is controlled and an underwater feeding station.
This experimental preparation allowed researchers to manipulate the oxygen and CO2 levels that were inhaled in the seals while monitoring diving behavior. The results of the previous assumptions were challenged: the period of diving the seals was closely related to the levels of oxygen in the blood, while the high CO2 had little effect on the period in which he remained immersed.
The researchers found that even when the seals were exposed to the levels of carbon dioxide, which exceeds that in the natural environment, diving periods remained consistent. On the contrary, when oxygen concentrations – whether they increased or decreased – there was a noticeable change in the period when the seals remained immersed. This indicates that their ability to organize breathing primarily control oxygen levels instead of carbon dioxide accumulation.
Evolutionary advantage
In contrast to humans, who dictate their ability to breathe by carbon dioxide levels, the seals appear to have a perceived ability to perceive oxygen levels directly. This allows them to organize their diving more efficiently and avoid the exhaustion of dangerous oxygen.
McKenite explained this from an evolutionary perspective, “If the experienced marine animals such as freedives, they will not survive in the wilderness. The development has been severely chosen against this weakness, especially in the species that moved from the ground patterns to water patterns completely. It will not be a system of depicting a dangerous gas gases simply sustainable.”
Given that the similar diving adaptations have evolved independently in different marine mammals, it is possible that other diving animals have this unique ability to monitor their oxygen levels directly.
Read more: The seals were discovered on the applause of films in the wilderness for the first time ever
condition sources
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After working as a vital physician assistant in laboratories in three countries, Jenny excels in translating complex scientific concepts – starting with medical breakthroughs and pharmaceutical discoveries to the latest in nutrition – to attractive and accessible content. Her interests extend to topics such as human development, psychology and strange animal stories. When you are not immersed in a famous scientific book, you will find it picking waves or wandering around the Vancouver island on its long board.