Size-dependent morphology of the conductive bronchial tree in four species of myomorph rodents.

Size-dependent structural patterns in the conductive bronchial tree of four species of myomorph rodents of different body weight were determined by lung casts. The lungs of the harvest mouse, Micromys minutus, body weight 5-7 g, the house mouse, Mus musculus, body weight 35-45 g, the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus, body weight 200-400 g, and the African giant pouched rat, Cricetomys gambianus, body weight 1,200-1,800 g, were inflated to 20 cm H2O, frozen, freeze-dried, hardened, and filled with silicone rubber. The casts were pruned, and branching pattern, diameter, and volume of the conductive bronchial tree were determined using a binocular magnifier. All four species have four lobes on the right lung and an undivided left lung, and the central bronchial tree on either side shows an identical monopodial branching pattern. Although the ramification of the central conductive bronchi is not size-dependent, the diameter and volume are. The diameter of the left main bronchus equals 1.24% of body length in Micromys and 0.6% in Cricetomys, and the conductive bronchial tree makes up 13% of the total lung volume in Micromys and 6% in Cricetomys. Relatively wider airways and a decline in airway resistance with declining body mass in small mammals compared to large ones result in a high ventilatory dead space, which is compensated for by a higher breathing frequency.