# animals with separate paths for food and air **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049 "2010-11-18T01:11:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/1 "2010-11-18T01:11:27Z")
Are there any animals with completely separate respiratory canals and esophagus? Where there is no connection between their breathing channels and their eating/drinking path? I understand about fish, but as I remember it, even those fish with fully developed gills still exhale the water through their mouths. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/2 "2010-11-18T01:25:13Z")
All air-breathing arthropods, I think. Maybe some mollusks? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/3 "2010-11-18T01:25:26Z")
Would turtles breathing through their butts count for you? > **[Is it true turtles breathe through their butts?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343468/is-it-true-turtles-breathe-through-their-butts)** ---
**Author:** ![Sandra\_Battye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sandra_battye/32/552_2.png) [@Sandra\_Battye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandra_Battye)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/4 "2010-11-18T02:00:57Z")
Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) have no connection between their trachea and esophagus. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/5 "2010-11-18T04:20:15Z")
> [@Sandra\_Battye](#): > > Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) have no connection between their trachea and esophagus. Bingo! I should have thought of that! Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/6 "2010-11-18T11:23:52Z")
Not completely separate, but some snakes like pythons have their breathing tube extend to the very front of their mouth, so there’s an opening under the tongue. It’s also much more rigid than our own. This is so that when they swallow a huge meal that takes hours to get entirely inside them, they can still breathe. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/7 "2010-11-18T12:22:00Z")
Horses? I read they can’t breathe through their mouths. ---
**Author:** ![FasterThanMeerkats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@FasterThanMeerkats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FasterThanMeerkats)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/8 "2010-11-18T12:57:49Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Horses? I read they can’t breathe through their mouths. Ok, we’re gonna need a volunteer to hold a horse’s nose closed for testing!!!😛 [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_system_of_the_horse) seems to agree, but the language is a bit muddled: “A flap of tissue called the soft palate blocks off the pharynx from the mouth (oral cavity) of the horse, except when swallowing. **This helps to prevent the horse from inhaling food, but does not allow use of the mouth to breathe when in respiratory distress, a horse can only breathe through its nostrils.** For this same reason, horses also cannot pant as a method of thermoregulation.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/9 "2010-11-18T13:06:55Z")
> [@FasterThanMeerkats](#): > > For this same reason, horses also cannot pant as a method of thermoregulation." That’s OK - they can sweat just fine. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/10 "2010-11-18T14:58:49Z")
> [@Sandra\_Battye](#): > > Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) have no connection between their trachea and esophagus. So wait, you’re telling me that scene from _Finding Nemo_ couldn’t happen? Inconceivable! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/11 "2010-11-18T20:50:21Z")
> [@FasterThanMeerkats](#): > > Ok, we’re gonna need a volunteer to hold a horse’s nose closed for testing!!!😛 > > [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_system_of_the_horse) seems to agree, but the language is a bit muddled: > > “A flap of tissue called the soft palate blocks off the pharynx from the mouth (oral cavity) of the horse, except when swallowing. **This helps to prevent the horse from inhaling food, but does not allow use of the mouth to breathe when in respiratory distress, a horse can only breathe through its nostrils.** For this same reason, horses also cannot pant as a method of thermoregulation.” While taking a horseback ride in Arizona we happened upon a rattlesnake sitting on the trail. The guide, a weather-worn, hard ass, no-nonsense woman in her 50’s (she was great), hoped off her horse and chased (kidjanot) the rattlesnake. The rattlesnake wanted no part of her and took off down a hole. I asked her why chase the rattlesnake? She said when they are near the trail she needs to run them off. She noted that a horse bitten on the nose (while grazing for instance) will suffocate as the nose swells. She said the horse’s mouth will hang open like it wants to breathe but they cannot breathe through their mouth. Interestingly she said if this is noted fast enough by a human the fix is the shove a garden hose up the horse’s nose before it swells shut. Anecdotal admittedly but she seemed very knowledgeable and believable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/12 "2021-05-14T15:57:45Z")
A few additions: [Breathing Through the Rectum Saves Oxygen-Starved Mice and Pigs](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/science/rectum-breathing-oxygen.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Science) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/13 "2021-05-14T16:01:24Z")
Note this bit in the introduction: “Japanese scientists who studied an unusual method of delivering oxygen in mammals hope to one day try it in people.” Really? Who’s volunteering for that experiment? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/14 "2021-05-14T16:28:17Z")
> [@Sandra\_Battye](#): > > Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) have no connection between their trachea and esophagus. > **[Scientists Discover a Mouth-Breathing Dolphin | Hakai Magazine](https://hakaimagazine.com/news/scientists-discover-mouth-breathing-dolphin/)** > > Here’s why that’s really, really weird. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/15 "2021-05-14T16:36:35Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > A few additions: > [Breathing Through the Rectum Saves Oxygen-Starved Mice and Pigs](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/science/rectum-breathing-oxygen.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Science) > [@TriPolar](#): > > Note this bit in the introduction: - > “Japanese scientists who studied an unusual method of delivering oxygen in mammals hope to one day try it in people.” > > Really? Who’s volunteering for that experiment? - Who else will no longer consider doing artificial respiration on an unconscious person? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/16 "2021-05-14T21:02:58Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Who else will no longer consider doing artificial respiration on an unconscious person? That’s a pretty crappy attitude to take. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-with-separate-paths-for-food-and-air/561049/17 "2021-05-14T23:35:48Z")
There’s this. > **[Does the Phrase 'Blow Smoke Up Your Ass' Come From 'Tobacco Enemas'?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tobacco-enema-blow-smoke/)** > > Let's get one thing out of the way — tobacco enemas were totally a thing. Calling Qadgop, etc.: I have heard that if a patient stops spontaneously breathing on the operating table, inserting a hemostat into the anus and rapidly opening it will often cause the patient to start breathing once again, due to a reflex. With intubation, this doesn’t have to be done as much any more, if at all, but it’s thought-provoking if it’s true. In the days before IVs, rectal feeding was not infrequently done, although how well it worked is dubious. Eggs, milk, molasses, honey, etc. dripped in slowly, after the patient had a cleansing enema. I do know that the colon absorbs water (that’s its main function) but nutrients? Don’t think so.