ruminant digestion

Question 1

mouth

Answer 1

upper incisors and canines are replaced by a tough pad of gum tissue. the lower incisors and incisiform canines push up against the pad to create a grasping mechanism. no amylase in its saliva=no starch digestion. produce large volume of saliva as a buffer.

Question 2

rumen

Answer 2

1st compartment of the stomach. major site for microbial digestion. VFAs produced by the microbes are absorbed very efficiently along the rumen wall. the inner surface of the rumen is covered with small projections called papillae to increase the surface area for absorption. also a major site for protein digestion. microbes digest the protein to its constituent amino acids then use them to synthesize its own protein. bacteria makes up about 60% of the biomass of the rumen along with small numbers of yeast and fungi.

Question 3

ruminate

Answer 3

maximizes the efficiency of microbial digestion. means to regurgitate feed material from the rumen for further chewing. allows larger feed particles to be reduced in size.

Question 4

reticulum

Answer 4

microbial digestion occurs here. acts as a primary filter. the inside tissue is arranged in a series of complex honeycomb-shaped ridges or folds. large particles of feed get caught on these folds and are pushed back into the rumen

Question 5

omasum

Answer 5

secondary filter, sheets of tissue project from the walls of the omasum to form a very effective barrier to all but the finest food particles. the folds look like pages in a book.

Question 6

abomasum

Answer 6

the true glandular stomach. HCl and pepsin are added here and large amounts of lysosome are secreted to break down bacterial cell walls. where digestion of microbes begins.

Question 7

large intestine

Answer 7

some fibrous feed material will reach the cecum and colon where microbial digestion continues but is much less significant than what occurred in the rumen.