Carrier's constraint

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Common leopard gecko

Carrier's constraint is the observation that air-breathing

lungs that flex their bodies sideways during locomotion find it difficult to move and breathe at the same time, because the sideways flexing expands one lung and compresses the other, shunting stale air from lung to lung instead of expelling it completely to make room for fresh air.[1]

It was named by English paleontologist Richard Owen for David R. Carrier, who wrote his observations on the problem in 1987.[2][3][4]

Consequences

Most lizards move in short bursts, with long pauses for breath.[citation needed]

Around the Late Triassic period, animals with Carrier's constraint were preyed on by bipedal species that evolved a more efficient stride.[citation needed]

Solutions

Workarounds

Most snakes have only one lung, so Carrier's constraint does not apply.

gular pumping.[5]

Some other lizards, mainly

bipedal locomotion
for running and avoid sideways flexing. Bipedality in modern lizards is rare, but it is an effective way to run without pausing to breathe, and is advantageous for catching active prey or evading predators.

Crocodilians use a "high walk" with a more erect limb posture that minimizes sideways flexing to cross long distances. However, as they evolved from upright walkers with limited bipedality, this may simply be a remnant of past behavior rather than a specific adaptation to overcome this difficulty. Todd J. Uriona of the University of Utah hypothesized that costal ventilation may have aided the upright posture in overcoming the constraint.[6]

Avoiding the constraint

Birds have erect limbs and rigid bodies, and therefore do not flex sideways when moving. In addition many of them have a mechanism which pumps both lungs simultaneously when the birds rock their hips.[citation needed]

Most mammals have erect limbs and flexible bodies, which makes their bodies flex vertically when moving quickly. This aids breathing, as it expands or compresses both lungs simultaneously.[citation needed]

Contrary evidence

Contrary to the above model, breathing is maintained in lizards during movement, even above their aerobic scope, and arterial blood remains well oxygenated.[7]

In popular culture

Paleontologist Richard Cowen wrote a limerick to explain and celebrate Carrier's rule:[3]

The reptilian idea of fun
Is to bask all day in the sun.
A physiological barrier,
Discovered by Carrier,
Says they can't breathe, if they run.

See also

References

  1. S2CID 83722453
    .
  2. ISBN 0-226-38911-1
    .
  3. ^ a b Cowen, Richard (2003). "Respiration, Metabolism, and Locomotion". Richard Cowen, University of California, Davis. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014. If the animal is walking, it may be able to breathe between steps, but sprawling vertebrates cannot run and breathe at the same time. I shall call this problem Carrier's Constraint.
  4. doi:10.1511/2008.69.20. Archived from the original
    on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2014. Carrier's constraint is named for David R. Carrier at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, who observed that the typical sprawling gait of a lizard restricts the animal's ability to breathe while running or walking.
  5. ^ Summers, Adam (2003). "Monitor Marathons". Natural History. 112 (5): 32. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  6. ISBN 9780549977285
    . Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  7. ISBN 0120392399
    .
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