Here's something fun I learned today. Apparently some turtles breathe through their ass 馃き馃槀
Ok, technically turtles don't have an ass but a cloaca which is a hole that is used both for reproduction and pooping:
In animal anatomy, a cloaca (/klo蕣藞e瑟k蓹/ kloh-AY-k蓹), plural cloacae (/klo蕣藞e瑟si/ kloh-AY-see or /klo蕣藞e瑟ki/ kloh-AY-kee), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds, and a few mammals (monotremes, tenrecs, golden moles, and marsupial moles), have this orifice, from which they excrete both urine and feces source
So, back to turtles. This breathing through thing is technically known as enteral or cloacal respiration, and is used by some animals as a means to supplement blood oxygen.
Some other animals known to breathe through their ass include certain species of fish, crab and polychaete worms.
And here's where the interesting part comes. According to recent research pigs, mice and possibly humans are capable of ass breathing under certain conditions. If that is true for humans too, ass breathing could be in the works in minimizing and improving ventilation for patients in need:
Enteral ventilation (EVA) enabled systemic oxygenation in mammalians.
EVA improved survival and behaviors in pre-clinical models of respiratory failure
EVA yielded no major signs of complications in pre-clinical models
EVA may serve as a transformative approach in respiratory failure patients
Sounds fun 馃槀
Here's a link to the paper from which the above highlights were taken if you want to check it out:
Enjoy ?! 馃槀