Question

What is the advantage of having a four-chambered heart?

Answer 1

The circulatory system in the multicellular organisms are involved in the exchange of respiratory gases which transport oxygen and food to cells and remove carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes. The heart is the main part of the circulatory system. The heart is three-chambered in the amphibians and in mammals, the heart consists of four chambers.

Complete answer:
Advantages of having a four-chambered heart are:
A) There is a clear cut division of labour among different chambers. Atria receive blood and the ventricle pumps the blood.
B) There is complete segregation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in the heart.
C) Heart efficiency is more in this design.
Structure of a human heart:
The human heart is a muscular organ. It is a part of the circulatory system found in most of the animals. The heart pumps blood throughout the blood capillaries of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body. It also carries metabolic wastes such as carbon dioxide to be removed through the lungs. In the heart of a frog, three Chambers are present consisting of two atria and a single ventricle. The three-chambered heart is also known as transitional heart. The right atrium receives deoxygenated, i.e. impure blood from the blood veins collected from the various organs of the body. The left atrium receives oxygenated pure blood from the lungs and skin. Both atria empty into the single ventricle. In this system, the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood is mixed in the ventricle before being pumped out of the heart. It is a very efficient method when compared to the frog heart. The human heart is four-chambered and it is also called a double circuit heart. This type of heart is divided into four chambers which consists of two atria and two ventricles. The atria receive the blood, while the ventricle pumps blood into different parts of the body.

Note: The trabeculae carneae of the left ventricle are quite similar to those of the right ventricle but are well developed. The papillary muscles of the left ventricle are connected to the cusps of the mitral valve by chordae tendineae. The heart receives oxygenated blood through coronary arteries.