Why is the liver so dark red in the living animal?
918018
It just is, means it's getting the oxygen and blood flowing through it that it needs to keep operating. kinda like gas in a car, if there's enough flowing it'll run if there isn't enough it won't run.
1118551
There are several vertebrates with blood that is green in color as a result of a buildup of the breakdown products of hemoglobin. This is a natural state for these species.
365758
Actually it is bilirubin that leads to the yellow/green discoloration in the skin and eyes. \n\nBilirubin is a breakdown product of blood and is metabolized through the liver. When the liver is not functioning well, as in the case of hepatitis, the bilirubin accumulates. Bilirubin is a pigment which then causes the discoloration called jaundice when in manifests in the skin and icterus when you see it in the eyes.\n\nDepending on the severity of the hepatitis and the etiology of the hepatitis your skin may or may not be jaundiced. If the metabolic mechanisms of the liver become overwhelmed or is not functioning adequately then the bilirubin will accumulate. After reaching certain levels, bilirubin will make the skin appear yellow.\n\nThis is also the same stuff that you may see in your vomit - it will be the greenish bitter stuff (assuming it wasn't bitter green jello you just ate or something).
612119
blood is red...not black
178693
Yep it's called Jaundice and that usually happens if there is some dysfunction in the liver.  PLEASE see your doctor ASAP so they can figure out what's causing it.  If it's a newborn infant that's very treatable and common.  If you are talking about an adult, it is very serious and needs to be addressed TODAY!
522144
it is called jaundice
1117549
liver\nliver, largest glandular organ of the body, weighing about 3 lb (1.36 kg). It is reddish brown in color and is divided into four lobes of unequal size and shape. The liver lies on the right side of the abdominal cavity beneath the diaphragm. Blood is carried to the liver via two large vessels: the hepatic artery carries oxygen-rich blood from the aorta, and the portal vein carries blood containing digested food from the small intestine. These blood vessels subdivide in the liver repeatedly, terminating in minute capillaries. Each capillary leads to a lobule. Liver tissue is composed of thousands of lobules, and each lobule is made up of hepatic cells, the basic metabolic cells of the liver. One of the liver's major functions is the manufacture and secretion of bile, which is stored in the gall bladder and released in the small intestine. Bile salts emulsify fats, a process that prepares the latter for digestion by the intestinal enzymes (see digestive system). The hepatic cells assimilate carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. They convert glucose to its stored form, glycogen, which is reconverted into glucose as the body requires it for energy. The ability of the liver to maintain the proper level of glucose in the blood is called its glucose buffer function. The end products of fat digestion, fatty acids, are used to synthesize cholesterol and other substances needed by the body. Excess carbohydrates and protein are also converted into fat by the liver. Digested proteins in the form of amino acids are broken down further in the liver by deamination. Part of the amino acid molecule is converted into glycogen and other compounds. Urea, a waste product of protein breakdown, is produced by the liver, a process which removes poisonous ammonia from the body fluids. The liver is also capable of synthesizing certain amino acids (the so-called nonessential amino acids) from other amino acids in a process called transamination. Some essential components of blood are manufactured by the liver, including about 95% of the plasma proteins and the blood-clotting substances (fibrinogen, prothrombin, and other coagulation factors). The liver also filters harmful substances from the blood. Phagocytic cells in the liver, called Kupffer cells, remove large amounts of debris and bacteria. In addition, the liver stores important vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, D, K, and B12. Several diseases states can affect the liver, such as hepatitis (an inflammation of the liver) and cirrhosis (a chronic inflammation that progresses ultimately to organ failure). Alcohol alters the metabolism of the liver, which can have overall detrimental effects over long periods of abuse. In 1994, a bioartificial liver, part machine, part cloned living liver cells, was used for the first time. Functioning somewhat like a kidney dialysis machine, the bioartificial liver can support patients with acute liver failure until their own livers regenerate, or it can be used by patients while waiting for a liver transplant.
227306
They have carotenoid (sp?) in their exo skeleton, (think beta carotene in carrots) so when they are cooked, it turns that reddish color.
1053811
Red, just about any warm blooded mammal has haemoglobin that has an iron base and accounts for the red colour. Difference in colour only occurs in animals such as insects or spiders because they have a different base, spiders have a copper base.
1067197
Blood is *never* blue.  Blood is described as dark red (venous) or bright red (arterial).  Our veins look blue because we are looking at them *through* our skin.  The blood inside them is dark red and it doesn't reflect light very well. The blood you see when you get hurt is usually venous blood. oxygen-poor blood is blue, oxygen enriched blood is red.\n\nIn humans and other hemoglobin-using creatures, oxygenated blood is a bright red in its color. Deoxygenated blood is a darker shade of red, which can be seen during blood donation and when venous blood samples are taken. However, due to an optical effect caused by the way in which light penetrates through the skin, veins typically appear blue in color. This has led to a common misconception that before venous blood is exposed to air it is blue.
156204
I don't believe that guy called her a moron for giving the right answer. Yes blood without oxygen is blue but it may appear green due to you looking at it through your skin. I'm sure you've seen someone with blue lines on their body. When blood becomes oxygenated...the Fe is pulled to the center of the heme ring. It's actually this conformational change that produces the red color. Not rust. Also to comment. The Fe is contained within the porphyrin ring but not in a flat structure. It is partially off center and is pulled more equally within the ring structure with the addition of oxygen. If you looked it up you'd know I wasn't making **** up. Although i do apologize for the blue comment. But we see blue because of the absorption of light at the surface of our skin. At least while the blood is stil in circulation. You need to be less critical. Yes all of them are red but to the naked eye under the skin they clearly appear blue. It's not total "bullocks" for someone to assume such. The intelligent should learn to be teachers not arrogant tactless shrews.
177501
Beef and Veal are raised in a very different fashion. \n\nVeal calves are not exposed to sunlight or given any form of Iron (Fe) which causes the meat to turn red (as below after exposure to air) and the animal is not exercised and is very young.\n\nOxygen is delivered to muscles by the red cells in the blood. One of the proteins in meat, myoglobin, holds the oxygen in the muscle. The amount of myoglobin in animal muscles determines the color of meat. Beef is called a "red" meat because it contains more myoglobin than chicken or fish.\n\nYou are what you eat extends to animals, therefor a hypothesis could be made that you are what they eat.\n\nI suggest this road as an exploration into why you react differently to the same specie.\n\nAntibiotics, grain, grass, Selenium (Se), and so on and so forth all contribute to this complexity.\n\nOr just chuck it all and have a veal burger.
228915
Lobster Blood is transparent or white, but because Copper is used to transport oxygen around their bodies (whereas humans use Iron), oxygenated blood is slighty blue.
210845
The dark brown color of soils is due to humus. Humus is the organic part of the soil, formed mostly by humic acids, the result of organic matter degradation. Those acids are brown in color. Other non-humic components include cellulose, chitin, lignins, also brownish in color. \nThe color of stools depends partly on the bilirubins (produced by the degradation of red blood cells). Bilirubins are filtered from the blood by the liver, secreted into the gall bladder and finally added to the digested food when it goes through the small intestin. \n\nIt's true that decomposed organic matter tends to look brownish. This could reflect the fact that many of the colored compounds are "useful" and costly to produce, and are not usually just dumped into the wastes. When one sees colors, it suggests "life"; and those substances usually involve pigments and/or vitamins that are reabsorbed or recycled.\nBut that's not to say that our waste matter does not represent a source of energy for those organisms with more efficient nutrition systems!
435084
The red color of blood is primarily due to oxygenated red cells.
510284
1. When your spleen breaks down dying red blood cells, the heme from the hemoglobin is broken down into a pigment called bilirubin. The bilirubin is then conjugated with glucuronic acid in the liver to increase its water solubility and it is then excreted into the bile. Bile enters your digestive system from the gallbladder, through the bile duct and finally into the duodenum through the Ampula of Vater. Bacteria further metabolize the conjugated bilirubin into stercobilin, which gives feces the characteristic color.\n\n2. It's kind of hard to describe, but also the kind of sound you would expect form a large mammal. Take a trip to your local zoo and find out for yourself.
887534
if you are talking about their reactions with perocide, the liver will fizz quickly and have a lot of fizz made. the potato will only fizz a little. if you want to give an acurate descrption, take a piece of raw beef (it doesnt nessisarily have to be liver) and a piece of raw potato, put them in seperate small cups, and pour some peroxide over them.