The latter data correlate with our observations of regions with deficient alveolar septation, airspace enlargement and areas of collapsed tissue in the lungs of surviving Hoxa5-/- animals (2). Because of its severe lung phenotype, the Hoxa5 mutation appears to be less subject to compensation by...
notably the abundance of elastic fibers and thickened alveolar walls in their lungs, which may facilitate alveolar collapse during diving. This structure helps selective