@hankgreen

So what you meant was of course, "Mammals breathe by expanding their rib cages." That's partly true, since we also breathe by tensing and relaxing our diaphragms, and if you consider the armored mammals, well ....

So really, it was just wrong and you should issue a correction.

Sorry about this, but I'm a biology major (former teacher) who owns nitpicking.com. That was just the sweet spot if your actual goal was galvanize my correct-this-now instinct.

#BizarreBeasts

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@hankgreen

Drop down to land vertebrates, and it's true if you exclude the amphibians (frogs use buccal breathing, muscles in the throat) , crocodilians (breathe by moving their abdominal organs forward and backward), and chelonians (covered here).

OK, maybe warm-blooded vertebrates? well ... no, because birds (dinosaurs) don't breathe by expanding their rib cages. For one thing, that would not work, since their lungs are rigid.

#BizarreBeasts

3/4

@hankgreen

OK, if I drop down to vertebrates, it's true if you exclude the fishes, representing the majority of vertebrate species, who breathe by passing water over gills (and in air-breathing fishes, use mouth and/or throat muscles to swallow air or have a specialized air-breathing organ like the labyrinths of the anabantid fishes).

#BizarreBeasts

2/4