The Chinese soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis, is
well adapted to aquatic environments, including brackish swamps and marshes. It
is ureotelic, and occasionally submerges its head into puddles of water during
emersion, presumably for buccopharyngeal respiration. This study was undertaken
to test the hypothesis that the buccophyaryngeal cavity constitutes an
important excretory route for urea in P. sinensis. Results indicate that a
major portion of urea was excreted through the mouth instead of the kidney
during immersion. When restrained on land, P. sinensis occasionally submerged
their head into water (20–100 min), during which urea excretion and oxygen
extraction occurred simultaneously.
journal reference (full text free): Experimental Biology>>