CBSE Class 10 Answered
Mammalian and avian hearts have four chambers – two atria and two ventricles. This is the most efficient system, as deoxygenated and oxygenated bloods are not mixed.The four-chambered heart ensures that the tissues of the body are supplied with oxygen-saturated blood to facilitate sustained muscle movement. Also, the larger oxygen supply allows these warm-blooded organisms to achieve thermoregulation (body temperature maintenance).
Amphibians and reptiles, by contrast, have a three-chambered heart. The three-chambered heart consists of two atria and one ventricle. While this system assures that some blood always passes to the lungs and then back to the heart, the mixing of blood in the single ventricle means the organs are not getting blood saturated with oxygen. This is not as efficient as a four-chambered system, which keeps the two circuits separate, but it is sufficient for these cold-blooded organisms. The oxygen supply provided by this system is insufficient to maintain a constant body temperature in the organisms.
Fish possess the simplest type of true heart – a two-chambered organ composed of one atrium and one ventricle. In fish, blood flows from the heart to the gills for gas exchange, then to the rest of the body, and finally back to the heart. This is called a single circulation since the blood flows through the heart only once during each complete trip around the body. Here also the oxygen supply provided is insufficient to maintain a constant body temperature in fish.