The Importance Of Respiration

990 Words2 Pages

Respiration is essential in all living things because it is the process in which the blood is oxygenated, providing the body with activity, energy, movement, growth, and life, while also removing other gases such as carbon dioxide. All living organisms need some form of energy in order to obtain and digest food, which is why it is important that the organism can get oxygen that can then be transformed into ATP, which is usable energy. There are various ways in which an organism can obtain oxygen, and this process is known as gas exchange. Gills, diffusion, and lungs are all examples of what an animal may use in order to take in air.
In the class mammalia, the respiratory system includes the procedure that allows mammals to breathe, obtain energy, then be able to intake food, which supplies as more energy. Without the respiratory system, mammals (and other classes of animals) wouldn’t be able to get a sufficient amount of energy, thus resulting in not being able to get food either, causing the animal to die.
Mammalians usually contain an upper and lower respiratory system, making the structure (anatomy) more complex, resulting in the function (philosophy) relate to achieving the purpose of the system. The upper respiratory system in mammals are responsible for filtering and warming air before it enters the lower system. The upper respiratory system includes the nose, nasal/paranasal cavity, and the pharynx (throat). The nose is the area in which oxygen typically enters the body, through either external nares or the nostrils. The cavities act as walls that are divided by a nasal septum, which allows air to travel in the pharynx. There are three parts to the pharynx, the nasopharynx, the oropharynx, and the oropharynx. The nasoph...

... middle of paper ...

...ory system perform actions that are similar in both mammals and molluscs, thus resulting in the same end product. Respiration is crucial in the survival of all animals, relating the Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia to the Phylum Mollusca, on a parallel level. Although each animal in these taxonomic groups have varied ways of obtaining the oxygen they use to make energy to get food, both result in the same end product, which provides the animal with life. Whether it be diffusion, gills, or lungs, the purpose of the respiratory system in mammals and molluscs is to deliver the oxygen from their surroundings into their lungs that will then pump the air through the rest of their body, resulting in a usable form of energy which allows them to intake food, thus allowing the survival of that animal, while also disposing of other gases such as carbon dioxide in the process.

Open Document