The Lung Air Sac System of Birds

The Lung Air Sac System of Birds: A Contribution to the Functional Anatomy of the Respiratory Apparatus

by Hans-Rainer Duncker Series: Advances in anatomy, embryology and cell biology, bd. 45, heft 6 Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heide1berg GmbH, 1st ed., 1971 ISBN: 978-3-540-05659-1 171 pages

This journal publishes reviews and critical articles covering the entire field of normal anatomy (cytology, histology, cyto- and histochemistry, electron microscopy, macroscopy, experimental morphology and embryology and comparative anatomy).

The purpose of this study is the elaboration of a concept of the lung air sac system basing on comparative and functional anatomical investigations which may serve as the basis of further physiological studies. Using a specially devised injection technique more than 500 birds of 150 species, from penguins to song birds, were injected with silicon-rubber. In this manner the lung air sac system was demonstrated in connection with the skeleton and then prepared considering the lung construction and the connection of the air sacs. Additionally, 45 species after fixation were prepared in the usual manner. The microscopical structure of the lung air sac system was studied on membrane preparations of the air sac walls and on histological sections through the lung.

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