Circulatory SystemAll marsupials have a four chambered heart. Their right side is used to pump blood without oxygen from the body to the lungs while the left side pumps blood with oxygen from the lungs to the body. The blood without oxygen is carried throughout the body through veins and the blood with a lot of oxygen is carried through arteries.
Oxygen deprived blood will come to the right atrium and through the right ventricle and to the lungs where carbon dioxide will be released. As carbon dioxide is released, oxygen will be absorbed. When oxygen is absorbed, the lungs will send the oxygen rich blood to the left atrium where it will travel through the left ventricle to the body.
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Respiratory SystemMarsupials are born with immature lungs and have to rely on cutaneous gas exchange. Cutaneous gas exchange is using the skin to breath through diffusion. Newborn marsupials do not rely on their lungs as they are relatively undeveloped and unable to provide enough oxygen needed for the young marsupials. Therefore marsupials will rely on skin gas exchange for the early stages of their lives for breathing. When their lungs are fully developed, they will rely on them.
In marsupials as well as many other mammals, air will be inhaled through the trachea and into the lungs to the bronchi. The bronchi has smaller branches called bronchioles which include small air sacs called alveoli. Oxygen is absorbed in the alveoli. The oxygen will be absorbed into the blood and carbon dioxide will travel from the blood to the alveoli to be breathed out since it is a waste product.
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