Human gills

Human gills?


Question: If we surgically removed gills from a fish, could we put them on our body?  
Could a human breath under water?
Carl W Gamauf

Answer 1:
No. They would have to be connected correctly with the circulatory system, for one 
thing. For another, the diffusion of oxygen in water is very slow compared to air, 
so we wouldn't get enough oxygen to satisfy our needs as humans.
--ProfBill

Answer 2:
Dear Dr. Frankenstein:
Technically, if you were able to supply those transplanted gills with a good blood 
supply, and assuming you could prevent your body from rejecting such a foreign object, 
and assuming those gills were large enough to provide your body with sufficient 
oxygenated blood, and that our very different type of blood would even function to 
carry oxygen from the gill, then....sure, no problem! A human could "breathe" (or 
"respire") under water!!
Tom F Ihde

Land of the Tiger

Land of the Tiger: 
A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent
Valmik Thapar
University of California Press 1998 

A book review by Danny Yee © 1998 http://dannyreviews.com

The companion volume to a television series, Land of the Tiger is a photographic tour of the wildlife and scenery of the Indian subcontinent. Chapters cover the high mountains (the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas), the Ganges (the Ganges basin, the Sundarbans), the oceans and islands (the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, the east and west coasts), the deserts (the Thar Desert and the Rann), the wet forests (the Western Ghats, Sri Lanka, and northeastern India), and central India (Madhya Pradesh). 

As one expects in such a work, there is little scientific depth, with interesting and unusual features likely to be of immediate interest singled out for attention instead. The focus is on the larger animals, on the birds, reptiles, and above all the mammals, foremost among them the tiger. There is, however, some discussion of general environments (with wonderful landscape photography, including some sumptuous double-page panoramas) and of conservation issues, most notably of the ways in which Indian religious beliefs have helped to protect some species and habitats. Land of the Tiger also includes some elements of travel narrative, with quotations from Thapar's own diaries and from other travelers. 

Land of the Tiger will be a pleasure for anyone who enjoys nature photography and natural history. 

April 1998 

Zoology

Zoology is central to our understanding of the world. Zoologists seek to discover the fundamental principles that underpin animal life focusing on the diversity, function and evolution of animals and thus providing the scientific basis for our knowledge both of the creatures with whom we share this planet and of ourselves. This Department strives to create an environment that enables teaching and research to attain high levels of excellence and in which its members can achieve their full potential.