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American Zoologist 1994 34(2):229-237; doi:10.1093/icb/34.2.229
© 1994 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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An Evolutionary Perspective for Bimodal Respiration: A Biological Synthesis of Fish Air Breathing1

JEFFREY B. GRAHAM
Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography UCSD La Jolla, California 92093-0204

SYNOPSIS: The broad phyletic distribution of bimodal breathing among the fishes, the diversity of this group's aerial-respiratory specializations, and the numerous ways that bimodality has permeated the natural history of many species provide a broad perspective on the evolution and biological significance of bimodal breathing. The long term evolutionary view of bimodal breathing emphasizes its importance in the evolutionary transition to terrestriality; a key role in this process was played by the fishes which were the first air-breathing vertebrates. On the other hand, in most extant fishes bimodality has not led to terrestriality. Rather, auxiliary air breathing enables a species to remain in or to exploit an aquatic habitat from which it would otherwise be excluded.


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