So, um...

Apr. 20th, 2012 11:01 am
conuly: (Default)
[personal profile] conuly
Where do centaurs keep their lungs? This has been bugging me all day. And what's in the extra chest?

Date: 2012-04-20 03:11 pm (UTC)
siderea: (Default)
From: [personal profile] siderea
Oh, I always figured they had two pairs of lungs to keep that much meat oxygenated.

It was stomachs I was unclear on.

Date: 2012-04-20 04:56 pm (UTC)
adiva_calandia: (Default)
From: [personal profile] adiva_calandia
This! Two hearts, two sets of lungs.

Although now that I start to think about the anatomy of it, I find the idea of two sets of lungs really difficult to imagine. It's not like there's a second trachea for the horse lungs. Hmm . . .

Date: 2012-04-23 01:16 pm (UTC)
pne: A picture of a plush toy, halfway between a duck and a platypus, with a green body and a yellow bill and feet. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pne
Good point about the horse trachea being a problem.

Unless they have a tracheostomy for that?

Date: 2012-04-24 02:30 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] dragonwolf
I would assume the human half would have a larger rib cage to support a larger-than-human set of lungs. The horse half may simply have the vestigial remains of the horse-lungs.

Two hearts would be easier to handle, though may take a little more brain development to synchronize the two. The lower heart could simply act as a "signal booster," particularly when running, to provide the necessary blood to the lower extremities.

Or, it could be that the lungs take up the entire human chest cavity, so the heart resides solely in the horse chest. Doing it that way could allow for both a heart and lungs that are large enough to sustain the creature, even while running.

Date: 2012-04-21 01:18 am (UTC)
mc776: The blocky spiral motif based on the golden ratio that I use for various ID icons, ending with a red centre. (Default)
From: [personal profile] mc776
I'm totally cool with the redundant systems.

That said, I wonder how a human face can stuff so much food and air into it to feed it all...

Date: 2012-04-24 02:32 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] dragonwolf
It could be that the human half is more Neaderthal-like than modern-human-like. That would allow for a larger nasal cavity, resulting in more airflow.

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