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Why can amphibians and reptiles stay underwater longer than birds and most mammals?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Mammals like humans are not very good at staying underwater but whales and porpoises are remarkable at staying under water. Equally some birds like cormorants and penguins are well adapted to being underwater and can stay there for a long time.
There are several reasons why amphibians and reptiles can stay underwater for a long time. One is because they are poikilotherms which means that they do not waste energy trying to keep warm. This will save a lot of oxygen. They may also be adapted to be able to have high concentrations of waste materials like carbonic acid and lactic acid in their blood without having any ill-effects. Most animals that go underwater also have strategies where metabolic function slows down. As this is temperature dependent and amphibians and reptiles can survive getting much colder they can slow right down and conserve energy. Some reptiles are also adapted to have wrinkly skin through which they can absorb oxygen from the water that can mean they don't need to go to the surface very much at all.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoFrogs have a very permeable skin and they obtain some of their oxygen from the water by simple diffusion. This is not sufficient for all their oxygen needs, they need to surface to breathe and if a frog is prevented from coming to the surface it would eventually drown. However, 'breathing' through their skin does allow them to stay under water for a long time.
The skin is an important gas exchange organ for frogs. The chytrid fungus, which is spreading through frog colonies in the wild and decimating some frog populations, kills the frogs by infecting their skins, causing it to be extremely hard and impermeable and interfering with, among other things, the frog's ability to 'breathe' through the skin.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoTadpoles have gills that allow them to breath under water. When the grow up their gills are removed and they begin there life on land as frogs.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoAs opposed to Frogs, tadpoles have gills which allow them to live in the water. However, as tadpoles undergo metamorphosis, they lose their gills and develop lungs.
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Do reptiles or mammals live longer?
Mammals
Are amphibians and reptiles and birds and mammals all in the same class?
No, not in a straight forward traditional classification sense... Amphibians = class Amphibia Reptiles = class Reptilia Bird = class Aves Mammals = class Mammalia They can be categorized all together in the "superclass" Tetrapoda.
Why was the advance reptiles about to reproduce away from the water and how was that an advantage?
It was an advantage because reptiles no longer had to stay near bodies of water and could live in more environments than amphibians.
What special adaptations do manatees have that allow them to stay underwater longer than the average land-dwelling mammal?
Manatees are not land-dwelling, they are water-dwelling mammals therefore their lungs are bigger so they can stay underwater longer.
What is a brief description of the idea that birds developed from reptiles?
First there were fish and creatures living under the sea, they became amphibians that could walk on land, they became reptiles that could no longer go underwater, they then grew hair/fur and became warm blooded to what we now call mammals, the hair/fur became feathers and they grew wings and a beak to become birds. This happened over hundreds of millions of years and is called the theory of evolution discovered by Charles Darwin.
How does mammal breath?
by there lungs but some mammals can breath longer underwater than us humans
Is duck an amphibian?
Ducks are not amphibians but they are amphibious. They are at home on land as well as on the water. They cannot breath under water.
What is the difference between dinosaurs and reptiles?
The word dinosaur means "terrible lizard". Dinosaurs were reptiles, meaning that they had no fur and hatched from eggs. They were closely related to lizards, but were really very different. There are many differences, but the main one lies where you'd least expect it. It is the way their legs join to their hips. It sounds funny, but if you think about it really, it is true. If you look at a lizard, you'll notice that their legs are in a kind of squatted position, with the legs going out to the side. A dinosaurs legs, however, go straight down, much like our own. So, that is how you can tell the difference between a dinosaur and a reptile.
How do spiders balance the ecosystem?
they eat insects, which then can no longer eat every plant in sight. in turn they are eaten by birds, fish, reptiles, mammals, space aliens... oops scatch the last!
Which lived on earth longer mammals or dinosaurs?
Mammals.
How are reptiles and mammals alike?
1. Both breathe oxygen. 2. Both have internal fertilization. 3. Neither have larval stages. 4. Both are amniotes. 5. Both have bilateral symmetry. 6. Both have spines and backbones. 7. There are many internal organs common to both reptiles and mammals. 8. Both are tetrapods by descent, although snakes no longer have limbs.
Did anything survive when the dinosaurs died?
Many organisms survived or there would no longer be life on Earth. Microbes were mostly unaffected, as were insects. Other survivors include fish, crocodilians, birds, lizards, turtles, amphibians, and mammals.
