air-breathing

Thân thiện

Large air-breathing ichthyosaurs swam near the ocean surface.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Deriving oxygen from the air: Describes an organism that breathes atmospheric air, as opposed to obtaining oxygen from water. This is a fundamental characteristic of terrestrial vertebrates and some aquatic animals that must surface to breathe.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Whales and dolphins are air-breathing mammals, despite living in the ocean.
  • The turtle is an air-breathing reptile that can hold its breath for a long time underwater.
  • The study focused on the lungs of air-breathing fish.

Advanced Usage

• Used primarily in biological, zoological, and paleontological contexts to classify organisms based on their respiratory methods.
• Often contrasts with terms like "water-breathing" or "gill-breathing."
  • The transition from water-breathing to air-breathing was a key step in vertebrate evolution.

Variants and Related Words

• Air-breather (noun): An organism that breathes air.
  • Mammals are obligate air-breathers.

Synonyms

• Pulmonary: Relating to the lungs (often used in a similar technical context).
• Lung-breathing: A more descriptive synonym.

Antonyms

• Water-breathing: Obtaining oxygen from water, typically through gills.
• Gill-breathing: Using gills for respiration.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. deriving oxygen from the air
   • he studied respiration in marine air-breathing vertebrates
   • large air-breathing ichthyosaurs had hydrofoils