Question

You are a veterinarian working for the San Diego Zoo. Today, you are performing an autopsy on a 22.7-gram frog and a 21.2-gram lizard, both of which appear to have died of a respiratory infection. Why are you not surprised to find that the lungs of the lizard have a larger internal surface area than those of the frog?

Answer 1

Answer: Because of the texture of their skin. Lizards have dry scaly skin, whereas the frogs have thin, moist skin.

Answer 2

Answer:

You are not surprised, because as a veterinarian you know that the lung of lizards must be more developed than that of frogs, because reptiles depend exclusively on lung breathing.

Explanation:

Caterpillars are reptiles, while frogs are amphibians. This information alone allows us to conclude because the internal surface of the lizard's lung is larger than the internal surface of the frog's lung.

This is because, as we know, reptiles depend exclusively on lung breathing, excluding the need for breathing through the skin (as is done by amphibians). This makes the lungs of the reptiles much more developed, presenting larger and more complex structures with a large number of internal surfaces and alveoli.

Amphibians, on the other hand, perform breathing through the skin, helping the lungs, which need not be as developed and complex.