Centaurine innards

[desperance]

Okay, look. I'm quite happy with one digestive system that has two separate stomachs en route, there are instances of that and stranger things; but are we to suppose that a centaur has two sets of ribs, human and horse, and - therefore? - two sets of lungs within 'em? Skeletally, see, I think they must; and you'd need horsey lungs, I'd guess, to power a horsey body. Which would imply two hearts also, unless the human half just didn't bother with a heart, because the horsey one was good enough for all; I'm okay with that either way, I just have trouble with the lungs thing. Only one intake-pipe, after all: does the poor girl have to breathe for two, great vasty draughts of air...? Or if she just has one set of horsey lungs, what's in the human chest cavity...?

Comments

[grndexter.livejournal.com]

I see no problem for Centaurian anatomy to contain multiple organs such as hearts and lungs. There are animals in the world that have more than one heart (worms?)

And lung capacity/volume is only part of the equation. How fast can they suck in air and exhale the waste? How efficient is their O2/CO2 exchange rate? Remember that a horse supports a neck and head that would be very comparable bulk wise to a man's torso and shoulders.

I see a single, well developed set of horse lungs with a larger than normal bi-tubal bronchial system (air in in tube 1, out in tube 2)... ansd a big mouth.