What advantage over an aquatic organism does a terrestrial organism have with regard to obtaining oxygen for respiration?
Answer
- Aquatic organisms take in dissolved oxygen form in water.
- Terrestrial animals breathe in the oxygen from atmosphere .
- The amount of oxygen in water is limited .
- This means that the rate of respiration of aquatic animals has to be much faster than terrestrial animals for them to get sufficient amounts of oxygen.
- A terrestrial animal on the other hand, breathes in oxygen directly from the atmosphere which is much larger in amount.
- Terrestrial animals hence get sufficient oxygen without having to breathe fast.