Comparative GI tract Flashcards
(36 cards)
Alloenzymatic digesters
rely on enzymes from microbes inhabiting digestive tract for nutrient digestion and absorption
Autoenzymatic digesters
rely on enzymes produced by own body to digest and absorb nutrients
Are hind gut fermenters autoenzymatic or alloenzymatic?
Alloenzymatic
Carnivores
eat almost exclusively meat or animal tissue
Omnivores
eat combinations of animal tissue and plants
Herbivores
eat almost exclusively plants
Insectivores
eat insects
Granivores
eat seeds and nuts
Frugivores
eat fruits
What are the three types of hind gut fermenters?
Cecal, colonic, and cecal-colonic
What process is a major energy source for herbivores?
fermentation
Cecotrophes
animals that eat their own feces to get more nutrients
What is the main energy source in rumens?
Volatile Fatty Acids
Where are Volatile Fatty Acid’s absorbed in the digestive tract?
The papillae of the rumen
What are the four components of a rumen’s stomach?
rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum
What is the function of the retiuclum?
moves ingested food into the rumen or into the omasum and regurgitation of ingesta during rumination, stores foreign objects
What is the function of the rumen?
a larger fermentation vat with a high population of microorganisms
What is the function of the omasum?
absorbs water and nutrients
What is the function of the abomasum?
acts at the true stomach, grinds and breaks down food
How many stomachs do birds have?
two
What is the second stomach in birds referred to as?
the gizzard
Where does fermentation occur in some avian species?
the crop
What is the enteric nervous system and what does it regulate?
the local nervous system of the digestive nervous system, regulates motility, secretion, and blood flow in gi tract
What is the shape of the reticulum?
Honeycombed