Llama Glama
The Llama has adapted to live at very high altitudes where the atmospheric pressure is low. This results in there being less oxygen in the air which means the llama will need to adapt is respiratory system to cope with this.
To enable the llama to live at this high altitude, the blood cells have adopted an oval shape which maximises oxygen exchange. The lung capacity of the llama is also larger. Within the blood, there is a higher haemoglobin count which ensures that as much oxygen as possible is absorbed from the air. The heart and metabolic rate of the llama is lower than animals that live at sea level. The supply of blood to different tissues has been altered to ensure that those most in need of oxygen get it whilst those that don't need a high level of oxygen still receive the volume needed. The level of P50 in the blood is lower than animals living at a low altitude which increases the volume of oxygen extracted from the air. The llama has a higher affinity to oxygen due to the decrease of DPG in the blood.
To enable the llama to live at this high altitude, the blood cells have adopted an oval shape which maximises oxygen exchange. The lung capacity of the llama is also larger. Within the blood, there is a higher haemoglobin count which ensures that as much oxygen as possible is absorbed from the air. The heart and metabolic rate of the llama is lower than animals that live at sea level. The supply of blood to different tissues has been altered to ensure that those most in need of oxygen get it whilst those that don't need a high level of oxygen still receive the volume needed. The level of P50 in the blood is lower than animals living at a low altitude which increases the volume of oxygen extracted from the air. The llama has a higher affinity to oxygen due to the decrease of DPG in the blood.
These graphs show the effect of Pressure and DPG on the oxygen levels.
Deer Mouse
The Deer Mouse is able to live at a high and low altitude to to its ability to adapt to different volumes of oxygen within the air. Different genes are responsible for affinity to oxygen. Deer mice at low altitudes are shown to possess a different gene to the ones living at a high altitude. The gene possessed by the mice at the high altitude gives the mice a greater affinity to oxygen than those at a low which allows the mice to absorb as much oxygen as possible from the air. The mice living at a high altitude are shown to live poorly at a low and the same vice versa. Mice living at a higher altitude have lower P50 levels than those living at a low altitude which helps to increase the volume of oxygen extracted from the air. The mice are able to make these adaptations due to haemoglobin polymorphism.
These graphs show the effect of pressure and DPG on oxygen levels.
A video showing how animals adapt to live in a high altitude habitat.