Tetrapod probably had a three-chambered heart, as do modern amphibians and reptiles, in which oxygenated blood from the lungs and de-oxygenated blood from the respiring tissues enters by separate atria, and is directed via a spiral valve to the appropriate vessel — aorta for oxygenated blood and pulmonary vein for deoxygenated blood. The spiral valve is essential to keeping the mixing of the two types of blood to a minimum, enabling the animal to have higher metabolic rates, and be more active than otherwise. The difference in density between air and water causes smells (certain chemical compounds detectable by chemoreceptors) to
Vein directly connect two capillary beds. Examples of such systems include the hepatic portal vein and hypophyseal portal system. The peripheral veins carry blood from the limbs and hands and feet. Microscopically, veins have a thick outer layer made of connective tissue, called the tunica externa or "tunica adventitia". There is a middle layer of bands of smooth muscle called tunica media, which are, in general, much thinner than those of arteries, as veins do not function primarily in a contractile manner and are not subject to the high pressures of systole, as arteries are. The interior is lined with endothelial