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The pulmonary circulation of the Tibetan snow pig ( Marmota himalayana )
Author(s) -
SUN S. F.,
SUI G. J.,
Liu Y. H.,
CHENG X. S.,
ANAND I. S.,
HARRIS P.,
HEATH D.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1989.tb02476.x
Subject(s) - biology , hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction , ventricle , pulmonary arterial pressure , medicine , effects of high altitude on humans , anatomy , vasoconstriction , blood pressure , endocrinology
Studies are presented on the pulmonary circulation of three Himalayan marmots ( Marmota himalayana (Hodgson)) captured in the mountains north of Lhasa, Tibet. The pulmonary arterial pressure and resistance were low, the right ventricle was not hypertrophied and the arterioles and terminal portions of the muscular pulmonary arteries had thin walls. The observations suggest that this species has adapted through natural selection to high altitude by losing the capacity for hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction.