Animals have evolved a variety of ways to get oxygen under extreme conditions

Oxygen is vital for life, and animals have developed various ways to ensure they can access it under extreme conditions — deep under water, at high altitude or in times of stress. Three papers published today in Science examine the ways that different animals achieve this feat, and how their unique abilities evolved.

Enrico Rezende, an animal physiologist at the University of Roehampton in London, says that all three papers are looking for answers to the same question: “How do you make an efficient system to deliver oxygen to the muscles?”…>>>more