Phase contrast imaging reveals low lung volumes and surface areas in the developing marsupial.

Marsupials are born with immature lungs when compared to eutherian mammals and rely, to various extents, on cutaneous gas exchange in order to meet metabolic requirements. Indeed, the fat-tailed dunnart is born with lungs in the canalicular stage of development and relies almost entirely on the skin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shannon J Simpson, Karen K W Siu, Naoto Yagi, Jane C Whitley, Robert A Lewis, Peter B Frappell
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3548826?pdf=render