Buccal pumping is a method of respiration in which the animal moves the floor of the mouth in a rhythmic manner that is externally apparent.
This method has several stages. These will be described for an animal starting with lungs in a deflated state: First, the glottis (opening to the lungs) is closed, and the nostrils are opened. The floor of the mouth is then depressed (lowered), drawing air in. The nostrils are then closed, the glottis opened, and the floor of mouth raised, forcing the air into the lungs for gas exchange. To deflate the lungs, the process is reversed.
Gular pumping refers to the same process, but accomplished by expanding and contracting the entire throat to pump air, rather than just relying upon the mouth.
This method of ventilation is inefficient, but is nonetheless used by all air-breathing amphibians and gular pumping is utilized to a varying extent by various reptile species[1]. Mammals, in contrast, use the thoracic diaphragm to inflate and deflate the lungs more directly.
References
- ^ Owerkowicz, Tomasz; Colleen G. Farmer, James W. Hicks, Elizabeth L. Brainerd (4 June 1999). "Contribution of Gular Pumping to Lung Ventilation in Monitor Lizards". Science (www.sciencemag.org) 284: 1661–1663.
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