Comparing Various Closed

Circulatory Systems
Mammals Frogs Fish

Circulation in Mammals (and birds)
Double circulation
FROG
Questions
1a) How many of each kind of chamber does a
frog's heart have?
b) Compare and Contrast the functioning of the
frogs heart with that of a mammal.
c) The diagram of the path of circulation in a frog
(above) shows that there is an extensive blood
supply to the body wall. Frog's skin is usually
moist. Frogs can spend considerable time under
water. How could this type of circulation be an
advantage when the frog is underwater?
Frog
Double Circulation
FROG: Circulatory System
Answers
1a) How many of each kind of chamber does a frog's heart have?
Three chambers: 1 Ventricle and 2 Atria
b) Compare and Contrast the functioning of the frogs heart with that of a
mammal.

They are similar in that both have a right and left atria that function to
receive blood and pump it to the ventricle (s).
But they differ in that oxygen rich and poor blood mix in the ventricle
of the frog and the ventricle functions to send blood with a relatively
low oxygen concentration (compared to in a mammal) to the tissues
of the body.
Mammals dont have blood returning from the body and the lungs
mixing; they are kept in separate ventricles and so only oxygen rich
blood from the left ventricle is distributed to the tissues of the body.

So Blood moving to body tissue will contain less oxygen per unit of
volume than mammalian blood
Cont.
c) ..How could this type of circulation be an
advantage when the frog is underwater?
Oxygen (from the water) can be absorbed
across the moist skin of the frog when it is
under water (and cant use its lungs for gas
exchange). (Oxygen enables aerobic
respiration to proceed and thus ATP to be
produced without waste such as lactic acid
accumulating.)

FISH
Questions
2 a) How many of each type of chamber does the heart of a
fish have?
b) Fish have a single circulation as compared to the double
circulation of mammals. Examine the diagram of the
path of circulation in a fish (above) and explain what is
meant by a single circulation.
c) Suggest a possible advantage of a double circulatory
system over a single circulatory system.
d) Why is a single circulatory system effective for a fish,
when it would be ineffective for a mammal?

Fish
Single circulation
Low
pressure
FISH: Circulatory System Question
2a) How many of each type of chamber does the heart of a fish have?
1 atrium and 1 ventricle

b) Fish have a single circulation as compared to the double circulation
of mammals. Examine the diagram of the path of circulation in a
fish (above) and explain what is meant by a single circulation.

Blood moves through the heart only once in each complete circuit
around the body. It goes from heart to gills and from gills to the
rest of the body. (as opposed to double circulation which involves
the blood passing through the heart twice in each complete
circulation of the body. It is returned to the heart after being
reoxygenated at the lungs, before being pumped to the rest of the
body)


c) Suggest a possible advantage of a double circulatory system over a
single circulatory system

(i) The heart receives blood which is oxygen rich. The heart is a muscle
and muscle tissue being active requires a rich supply of oxygen so that
ATP can be generated during aerobic respiration
(ii) Freshly oxygenated blood will then be pumped by the heart to other
tissues of the body. This pumping forces the blood along and ensures
rapid delivery to tissues.
(single circulation in comparison means the actual heart tissue only
receives oxygen poor blood and that blood pumped to other tissues is
under low pressure and is delivered fairly inefficiently

d) Why is a single circulatory system effective for a fish, when it would be
ineffective for a mammal.
Fish are poikilothermic ectotherms (their body temp fluctuates with that
of the environment and they dont adjust their production of metabolic
heat) and less metabolically active than mammals. Thus their tissues
require less ATP to fulfill their needs, thus oxygen and glucose can be
supplied at a slower rate for the respiration to still be sufficient.
Mammals are homeothermic endotherms (maintain a stable core
temperature and control generation on metabolic heat to do so) and
more metabolically active and need to supply oxygen and glucose to
cells more efficiently to enable supply of ATP fast enough to sustain
their cells