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Anaerobic Respiration - Mammals

OCR A-level BiologyRespirationLesson 12 of 12

Animals respire anaerobically as a means of overcoming a temporary shortage of oxygen. This is useful when the amount of oxygen is very low, for an animal living in water. However, anaerobic respiration most often occurs in muscles during strenuous exercise when oxygen is used up more rapidly than it is supplied. Pyruvate is reduced to lactate using the hydrogen from reduced NAD and NAD is regenerated so that glycolysis can continue.

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Key terms in this lesson

Glycolysis
The first stage of respiration, occurring in the cytoplasm, in which glucose is split into two molecules of pyruvate with a net yield of ATP and reduced NAD.

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