CHASING BREATH Alligators don’t fly, but a late-night notion led a researcher to show gators and birds share a breathing strategy, raising questions about other reptiles’ lungs.
chas53/iStockphoto (bird); GlobalP/iStockphoto (alligator)
Colleen Farmer was alone one night dissecting an alligator. Her focus was on blood flow in the heart, when suddenly, a hypothesis unfolded about animal lungs.