Hemoglobin affinity in Andean rodents

Blood hemoglobin oxygen affinity (P50) was measured in three Andean species and in the laboratory rat (control), all raised near sea level. Chinchilla lanigera (Molina, 1792) has an altitudinal habitat range from low Andean slopes up to 3000 m., while Chinchilla brevicaudata (Waterhouse, 1848) has an altitudinal range from 3000 to 5000 m. The laboratory type guinea pig, wild type guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), (Waterhouse, 1748), and laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) were also raised at sea level. The Andean species had high hemoglobin oxygen affinities (low P50) compared with the rat. Chinchilla brevicaudata had a higher affinity than Chinchilla lanigera. The wild type guinea pig had a higher affinity than the laboratory type. As has been shown in other species, this is another example of an inverse correlation between the altitude level and the P50 values. This is the first hemoglobin oxygen affinity study in Chinchilla brevicaudata.

Hemoglobin affinity for oxygen in three subspecies of toads (Bufo sp.) living at different altitudes

Blood oxygen affinity and red blood cell properties were measured in three subspecies of genus Bufo: Bufo spinulosus limensis, collected at sea level and at an average day temperature of 20§C; Bufo spinulosus trifolium, from 3100 m, average day temperature of 15§C; and Bufo spinulosus flavolineatus, from 4100 m, average day temperature of 10§C. Electrophoresis of the hemoglobin showed the same component in each of the three subspecies. At 20§C the blood oxygen affinities (P50) showed small differences between Bufo spinulosus limensis and Bufo spinulosus trifolium, whereas the value for Bufo spinulosus flavolineatus was markedly lower. At 10§C, the ambient temperature of Bufo spinulosus flavolineatus, the P50 was extremely low compared with the other two subspecies at their corresponding ambient temperatures.