NASAL SALT EXCRETION AND THE POSSIBLE FUNCTION OF THE CLOACA IN WATER CONSERVATION.
Secretion of concentrated salt solutions from the nasal region was observed in several terrestrial birds and reptiles. In the secreted fluid potassium usually exceeded sodium concentrations, with chloride and bicarbonate as the major anions. It is suggested that the extrarenal excretion of salts is related to the reabsorption of water in the cloaca, that it is necessary for the production of urine with a particularly low water content, and perhaps was prerequisite for the evolution of efficient cloacal water conservation.
D000818:Animals; D001639:Bicarbonates; D001717:Birds; D001826:Body Fluids; D002712:Chlorides; D002988:Cloaca; D004754:Enterobacter; D007420:Intestine, Large; D007477:Ions; D009666:Nose; D011188:Potassium; D012104:Reptiles; D012106:Research; D012964:Sodium; D012965:Sodium Chloride
D001639:Bicarbonates; D002712:Chlorides; D007477:Ions; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D012964:Sodium; D011188:Potassium
BICARBONATES; BIRDS; BODY FLUIDS; CHLORIDES; EXPERIMENTAL LAB STUDY; NOSE; POTASSIUM; REPTILES; SODIUM CHLORIDE