Respiratory System of the Snapping Turtle ~
Oxygen is the most important thing any organism needs in order to survive. If there is no oxygen, organisms cannot obtain the air they need to breathe in. It has been proven that Oxygen plays a big role in your happiness, health, Etc. Being able to do things like thinking, moving, etc. have to do with oxygen.
Even though a turtle's shell is protection, it can get in the way of it's breathing. The shell can or a muscle can cover up parts of the lungs and that makes it hard to breathe. What turtles do is, flex the membrane that is across the back of the shell. When the turtle breathes it pulls the membrane back and exhales by pulling it forward. However when a turtle is underwater, the way they breath is different. They inhale actively and exhale passively using the force the of the water. Since turtles do not breathe regular, the result is being exposed to high levels of Carbon Dioxide inside their lungs. The good part about it is, they are used to this so they are able to increase/decrease the pH level of the blood. Something cool about turtles is that they put away oxygen in their Cloacas and other places so when they're hibernating, there's no need to go to the surface to get air until a long time after.
Even though a turtle's shell is protection, it can get in the way of it's breathing. The shell can or a muscle can cover up parts of the lungs and that makes it hard to breathe. What turtles do is, flex the membrane that is across the back of the shell. When the turtle breathes it pulls the membrane back and exhales by pulling it forward. However when a turtle is underwater, the way they breath is different. They inhale actively and exhale passively using the force the of the water. Since turtles do not breathe regular, the result is being exposed to high levels of Carbon Dioxide inside their lungs. The good part about it is, they are used to this so they are able to increase/decrease the pH level of the blood. Something cool about turtles is that they put away oxygen in their Cloacas and other places so when they're hibernating, there's no need to go to the surface to get air until a long time after.