The topic of Matsumi Ladies Clinic Mita English blog in May is about digestion.

In the second part, I create an article about unique mechanisms of animals’ digestive systems

I will explain three types of unique mechanisms, which are not found in humans.

 

First up is cows.

The cow has one stomach with four compartments.

After the cows swallow grasses, they go to the first compartment called the “Rumen.”

The inside has billions of enzymes, microbes and digestive juices, which help break down the food.

Then, the food goes to the second part called the “Reticulum.”

It filers the food to remove toxic matter and small lumps of the food called “cud” are produced.

The cud goes back into the cow’s mouth.

After the cow chewed it again, the cud moves to the third compartment called the “Omasum”, where the cud turns more digestible.

Finally, it reaches the fourth part called the “Abomasum”, from which the nutrients move to the breast.

 

The next animal is the Koala baby, called Joeys.

The Joeys is not born with the bacterium.

So, the mothers need to pass down their microbes to the babies.

How do they do it?

The baby usually stays for six months in the mother’s pouch and drinks milk.

After this stage, the baby gets out of the pouch and stay sometime outside.

Around this time, the baby eats soft, sticky stool called “poop”, which is produced by the mother.

Babies of elephants, hippos, rodents and dogs are known to eat their mother’s poop, too.

It gives the good bacteria into the baby’s gut.

 

The last is birds.

Basically, birds have no teeth, therefore they can not chew the food.

It goes into the stomach directly.

The softened food goes into a muscular organ called “gizzard.”

The gizzard grinds the food down into smaller pieces for digestion.

Some birds like swallow eat pebbles or bits of grit to help this consumption process.

 

It is fun to know about the various digestive systems.