Abstract
THE ability of some terrestrial invertebrates to discharge their nitrogen endproduct in the form of gaseous ammonia seems to violate “Needham's rule” which states that owing to the toxicity of ammonia the ammonotelism of aquatic animals has been replaced by ureocotelism and uricotelism in terrestrial groups. Both gastropods1 and isopods2 execrete some or most of their N-endproducts as gaseous ammonia. This method would seem to preserve ammonotelism, the “cheapest” way of excreting nitrogen, without its negative corollary, the loss of large amounts of body fluid.
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References
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WIESER, W. A Glutaminase in the Body Wall of Terrestrial Isopods. Nature 239, 288–290 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/239288a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/239288a0
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