What is Excretion Excretion is the process of

What is Excretion? • Excretion is the process of removing cellular wastes. • The term excretion refers specifically to the elimination of wastes produced by cellular activity. • It is not removal of undigested food material! Goal: Maintain homeostasis!!

What is Excretion? (contd) • The most important waste products are CO 2, nitrogen compounds, and salts. • CO 2 – produced during cellular respiration (in addition to water) • Nitrogen compounds – (ammonia, urea, and uric acid) produced by the breakdown of amino acids (protein digestion) • Salts – produced by metabolism

Why do we need to excrete Ammonia? • All organisms produce ammonia as they metabolize nutrients (protein digestion) • Ammonia is a nitrogenous waste that is toxic and must be removed from the body • How an organism removes ammonia depends upon where it lives

Removing Nitrogenous Waste Products (2) Urea: - Many land animals and some bony fish (amphibians, mammals) dilute the toxic ammonia with water. - This substance is called Urea & is filtered out by the kidneys. - The problem is they do lose water in the process! - Requires Energy

Removing Nitrogenous Waste Products (3) Uric Acid • Not very toxic because insoluble • Evolved as an adaptation of land animals • Many organisms try to conserve water & excrete their Nitrogen waste as a solid! (little loss of water is involved) • Examples: insects, reptiles, birds

The Mystery behind Bird Poop • Unlike mammals, birds do not urinate. • Their kidneys extract nitrogenous wastes from the bloodstream, and excrete it in the form of uric acid. • Uric acid has a very low solubility in water, so it emerges as a white paste.

Human Excretion Where does excretion occur in humans? Like other animals humans have a system that excretes Nitrogen wastes as Urea, salt, and water Urinary System: Kidneys, ureter, urethra, and bladder Kidneys (located in back) play important role in homeostasis – - remove waste products from blood - maintain blood p. H - control water content of blood

How The Kidneys Work 1) Blood enters kidneys from renal artery 2) Blood is filtered by passing through millions of nephrons 3) Wastes pass through ureter to the bladder as urine 4) Clean blood returns to body through renal vein 5) Bladder stores urine and passes urine out of the body through the urethra

Nephrons: How the Body makes Urine • Your kidneys are composed of 1 million cells called Nephrons. • These long coiled tubes are where the blood is actually filtered and urine is produced

The Nephron • Nephron has three functions: 1. Glomerular filtration: filter out water, N-wastes (urea), salt, glucose, amino acids 2. Tubular reabsorption: reabsorb materials that the body still needs (food molecules, water). 3. Tubular secretion: collect wastes as urine and pass them to the bladder (urea, salts, other substances) Blood filters through the kidneys about 6 times a day. 99% of the water is reabsorbed and not excreted

Anatomy of 1 Nephron

Anatomy of 1 Nephron

What kinds of animals have the most efficient kidneys? • Desert animals must be able to conserve moisture • Most terrestrial animals must drink fresh water often; however the kangaroo rat does not need to drink water very often – its kidneys absorb every little drop of water

Kidney Failure If renal failure occurs, people must get their blood filtered through Dialysis.

Gout Is a disease where the human body accumulates Uric acid in the joints. Heredity, alcohol & kidney failure lead to this problem.

Kidney Diseases • Kidney Stones