All organisms need ATP to live. Respiration is only around 40 per cent efficient. As animals respire, heat is also released. In birds and mammals, this heat is distributed around the body by the ...

The process of respiration also releases energy in the form of heat. The heat is used to maintain the relatively high body temperature of mammals and birds.

The researchers began to wonder if mammals might also be able to breathe through their intestines in the same way. “The anus was a natural route for using the intestines for respiration without ...