Patterns of respiration in diving penguins: is the last gasp an inspired tactic?

Patterns of respiration in diving penguins: is the last gasp an inspired tactic?

Humboldt penguins Spheniscus humboldti in captivity and free-living Magellanic penguins S. magellanicus were fitted with loggers to determine beak angles during breathing. The Humboldt penguins were also fitted with masks for determining rates of air flow during breathing. During periods of higher gas exchange requirement, Humboldt penguins opened their beaks during inspiration, where tidal vol...

The agony of agonal respiration: is the last gasp necessary?

Gasping respiration in the dying patient is the last respiratory pattern prior to terminal apnoea. The duration of the gasping respiration phase varies; it may be as brief as one or two breaths to a prolonged period of gasping lasting minutes or even hours. Gasping respiration is very abnormal, easy to recognise and distinguish from other respiratory patterns and, in the dying patient who has e...

The Last Gasp

of opportunity was, however, also a period of intense competition. Cotton’s river inter-linking scheme was double edged; it had to draw capital investments for navigation and irrigation schemes while simultaneously starving the same for the railways, which was then being touted as the most viable mode for mass transport in India. Cotton, in effect, wanted river navigation to trump railway lines...

The Last Gasp Ii: Lungs and Thorax

Energetics of diving in macaroni penguins.

Heart rate (fH), abdominal temperature (T(ab)) and diving depth were measured in thirteen free-ranging breeding female macaroni penguins. Measurement of these variables allowed estimation of the mass-specific rate of oxygen consumption (V(O(2))) while diving and investigation of the physiological adjustments that might facilitate the diving behaviour observed in this species. In common with oth...