Caecotrophy
As cecotrope (of the cecum and trophic ) is called the regular inclusion of a specific form of feces ( Blinddarmkot ) by several species of herbivores, making them achieve a better utilization of the indigestible plant food. Caecotrophy is a special form of coprophagy . This particular adaptation to the plant-based diet can be found in rodents (Rodentia) and rabbits (Lagomorpha), among others .
These animals produce two forms of feces . During the day, they give off the normal, dark droppings in the form of small dry balls that are not eaten. This also no longer contains any usable food residues.
During the rest period, however, these animals excrete what is known as appendix faeces. These are moist, soft and lighter balls or grapes, enveloped in mucus, so-called cecotrophs . The animals take it up immediately after excretion from the anus and swallow it whole. This process can usually be observed as a kind of cleaning movement in the animals. The reabsorbed caecotrophs are first stored in the anterior fundus of the stomach, where they are encased by a membrane and fermented with bacteria for several hours. Among other things, lactic acid is formed in the process . The fundus of the animals thus functions similarly to the rumen of ruminants as a fermentation chamber. Only later are the remaining cecotrophs gradually digested with the remaining stomach contents.
The advantage of this behavior lies in the better utilization of the food. The material of these balls comes from the appendix , where it has already been subjected to bacterial fermentation. It is much richer in protein and bacteria than normal manure. The double passage of 80 to 100 percent of the food through the intestinal canal and the associated better utilization of the food broken down by the bacteria is of decisive importance for the nutrition of the animals. The coprophagia also ensures that the animals are adequately supplied with vitamins , especially the B group, which are formed by bacteria.
The proportion of appendix faeces in total faeces is over 30%. If coprophagia is prevented, rats need additional sources of vitamin K and biotin . Symptoms of deficiency in other vitamins appear earlier, and their rate of growth is reduced by 15 to 25 percent despite an abundant diet. The size of the appendix is very different in rodents. A correlation with diet is very clear.
literature
- Klaus Loeffler , Gotthold Gäbel : Anatomy and physiology of domestic animals. UTB, 2013, ISBN 3-825-23924-1 , pp. 269-270.