Urogenital systems in exotics Flashcards
What is the simplest way to excrete waste?
To excrete it as ammonia
What does ammonia require to be excreted
large amounts of water as it is toxic to the nervous system
Which animals excrete ammonia?
aquatic species such as fish, crocodiles and alligators
What is excreted in a semi-solid form thar requires a lot of ATP to excrete?
Uric acid (excreted by birds)
Why is uric acid excreted in a semi-solid form?
It mixes with sodium and potassium to form a suspension, consequently it has a large protein concentration
What do fish mainly use for most of their excretion and retention processes?
their gills
Where do kidneys sit in the fish?
ventral to the spine and in some species sit on the swim bladder
What is the cranial section of the kidneys predominantly?
haematopoietic and lymphoid tissue
What is the caudal section of the kidneys predominantly?
excretory tissue with some hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue
Why must reptiles use other methods of conserving water that aren’t the kidneys?
They have no loop of henle
Where do the kidneys lie in sea turtles?
In the caudal coelom, they are flattened and lobated
What does the sea turtle bladder look like?
Large and thin, it serves mostly to store water and electrolytes
What do the kidneys look like in lizards?
paired, symmetrical, elongated and slightly lobated
Where are the kidneys in lizards located?
Deep in the pelvis canal, hence why disease that leads to swelling/enlargement of the kidneys can translate to constipation
Where does urine waste flow in the reptile kidneys
It flows from the kidney through the ureter into the urodeum of the cloaca
What do the kidneys look like in snakes?
Paired, flattened and elongated- can contain around 30-40 lobules
Where is urine stored in snakes if they have no bladder?
stored either side of the distal colon or distal ends of the ureter
What is the urinary excretion in snakes?
a thick white paste
What is a synsacrum?
Found in avians, all thoracic, lumbar and sacral vertebrae are fused into one structure
What is the function of salt glands?
They are located dorsal to the eye and drain through the nose, they remove Sodium Chloride from sea water birds which helps regulate the osmotic concentrations
Why is protein not lost to animals that excrete uric acid?
Once urine enters the urodeum it moves via reverse peristalsis, here protein is absorbed and recycled
a semisolid white paste is then excreted
Which reptile does not contain a bladder and therefore must store urine in the distal colon
snakes
What does the urinary excretion look like in snakes?
a thick white paste
What is the flow of the renal portal system?
a ring is formed on the ventral side of the kidneys by the cranial and caudal portal veins which branch off of the external and common illiac veins
What controls the flow of the renal portal system
valves that are located at the junction of the external illiac and renal vein
can either direct or shunt blood through the kidneys
