Name: Digestion in Grass-Eating Animals
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 5 min 47 s
Description: Digestion in grass-eating animals involves the process of rumination. In this video, we will learn about the digestive system of ruminants and the importance...

Question

Describe the structure and function of a ruminant stomach.

Accepted Answer

The process by which ingested food is brought up to the mouth to be chewed again is called rumination. Animals that carry out rumination are called ruminants. Sheep, goat and cow are called ruminants. Ruminant stomachs have four compartments: the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum and the abomasum.

Rumen: This is the largest chamber of stomach. It stores large quantities of partially chewed food. Food is partially digested in the rumen. This food, called cud, is brought back to the mouth for further chewing and reswallowing. This process is called cud-chewing. A large number of microbes are present in the rumen, which help in the breakdown of fibre present in the food.
Reticulum: It helps in moving swallowed food back into the mouth for further chewing.

Omasum: It is the smallest chamber. It absorbs excess water from food.
Abomasum: The walls of the abomasum secretes juices that digest food. Digested food passes to small intestine.

Describe the structure and function of a ruminant stomach.

Important Questions on Nutrition in Animals

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