Intracardiac flow separation in an in situ perfused heart from Burmese python Python molurus

摘要

The heart of non-crocodilian reptiles has two separate atria that receive blood from the systemic and pulmonary circulations. The ventricle is not fully divided, but is compartmentalised into two chambers (cavum dorsale and cavum pulmonale) by a muscular ridge that runs from the apex to the base of the ventricle. The muscular ridge is small in turtles, but is well developed in varanid lizards and many species of snakes. These anatomical differences correlate with an effective blood flow separation in varanid lizards, whereas turtles can exhibit very large cardiac shunts. Very little is known about the cardiac shunt patterns in other groups of reptiles.