ArticlePloS one2017
Morphological and morphometric specializations of the lung of the Andean goose, Chloephaga melanoptera: A lifelong high-altitude resident.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative Analysis of Production Performance and Physiological Responses in Snowy White Chickens Reared at Different Altitudes.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Hypoxia and Tissue Regeneration: Adaptive Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Structure and function of the avian respiratory system.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Gas exchange, oxygen transport and metabolism in high-altitude waterfowl.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Unidirectional airflow, air sacs or the horizontal septum: what does it take to make a bird lung?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Insights into Age-Related Changes in Lung Tissue of Yaks Under Highland Stress.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Physiological and Genetic Basis of High-Altitude Indigenous Animals' Adaptation to Hypoxic Environments.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Review
- Article
- Migratory songbirds exhibit seasonal modulation of the oxygen cascade.The Journal of experimental biology · 2023Article
- Physiology and Proteomic Basis of Lung Adaptation to High-Altitude Hypoxia in Tibetan Sheep.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Physiology and Transcriptomics Analysis Reveal the Contribution of Lungs on High-Altitude Hypoxia Adaptation in Tibetan Sheep.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Time Domains of Hypoxia Responses and -Omics Insights.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Review
- Physiological and Disease Models of Respiratory System Based on Organ-on-a-Chip Technology.Micromachines · 2021Review
- Evolution and developmental plasticity of lung structure in high-altitude deer mice.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2021Article
- Article
- A morphometric analysis of the lungs of high-altitude ducks and geese.Journal of anatomy · 2020Article
- Comparative morphometric analysis of lungs of the semifossorial giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus) and the subterranean Nigerian mole rat (Cryptomys foxi).Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Respiratory evolution in archosaurs.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Review
- Life Ascending: Mechanism and Process in Physiological Adaptation to High-Altitude Hypoxia.Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics · 2019Article
- Evolution of physiological performance capacities and environmental adaptation: insights from high-elevation deer mice (Journal of mammalogy · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
High altitude flight in rarefied, extremely cold and hypoxic air is a very challenging activity. Only a few species of birds can achieve it. Hitherto, the structure of the lungs of such birds has not been studied. This is because of the rarity of such species and the challenges of preparing well-fixed lung tissue. Here, it was posited that in addition to the now proven physiological adaptations, high altitude flying birds will also have acquired pulmonary structural adaptations that enable them to obtain the large amounts of oxygen (O2) needed for flight at high elevation, an environment where O2 levels are very low. The Andean goose (Chloephaga melanoptera) normally resides at altitudes above 3000 meters and flies to elevations as high as 6000 meters where O2 becomes limiting. In this study, its lung was morphologically- and morphometrically investigated. It was found that structurally the lungs are exceptionally specialized for gas exchange. Atypically, the infundibulae are well-vascularized. The mass-specific volume of the lung (42.8 cm3.kg-1), the mass-specific respiratory surface area of the blood-gas (tissue) barrier (96.5 cm2.g-1) and the mass-specific volume of the pulmonary capillary blood (7.44 cm3.kg-1) were some of the highest values so far reported in birds. The pulmonary structural specializations have generated a mass-specific total (overall) pulmonary morphometric diffusing capacity of the lung for oxygen (DLo2) of 0.119 mlO2.sec-1.mbar-1.kg-1, a value that is among some of the highest ones in birds that have been studied. The adaptations of the lung of the Andean goose possibly produce the high O2 conductance needed to live and fly at high altitude.
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