Abstract
1.1. Seventy-nine animal species were surveyed spectrophotometrically for peroxidase, aldehyde oxidase, xanthine oxidase and, in fewer species, xanthine dehydrogenase activites.2.2. None of the four oxidases was measurable in phytogenetically primitive species.3.3. Twelve species displayed peroxidase alone, eleven species displayed xanthine or aldehyde oxidase alone and thirty-three species displayed peroxidase and one, two or three of the other oxidases.4.4. Aldehyde oxidase appeared to be phylogenetically primitive to xanthine dehydrogenase, which in turn was primitive to xanthine oxidase.5.5. Aldehyde oxidase was widely distributed among molluscs, crustaceans, insects and alll the vertebrate classes except birds.6.6. Peroxidase was present in all vertebrates and in those invertebrates that burrow in soil and detritus.7.7. Xanthine dehydrogenase incidence was high in insects and fish.8.8. Xanthine oxidase was found with certainty only in birds, mammals and one arachnid.9.9. Most uricotelic animals displayed either xanthine oxidase or xanthine dehydrogenase.10.10. Two insects appeared to shift from xanthine dehydrogenase in their larval stage to aldehyde oxidase in their adult stage.
Published Version
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