Comparative Digestive Physiology

Why Do Animals Digest?

Food not ingested in suitable state

Physical nature of food determined by:

gathering apparatus for uptake
type of digestive system
 Primary Functions of the
Digestive Tract
 Transport food – peristaltic contractions
 Digestion
 Mechanical breakdown
 Chemical breakdown
 Absorption
 Passive diffusion and active transport
 Synthesis - true protein, FA, starch, vitamins
 Excretion – elimination of waste products
 Via bile (toxins, microbes etc)
 Via rectum (Ca, Mg, P)
Regions of Alimentary Canal
 Foregut functions
 Ingestion and storage of feeds
 Midgut functions
 Mechanical, chemical & enzymatic digestion of
feed
 Nutrient absorption
 Hindgut functions
 Water & ion re-absorption
 Formation, storage, excretion of feces
Associated Structures
 Pancreas
Contribute to small
 Liver
intestinal digestion
 Gallbladder
 Salivary glands
 Primitive Gastrointestinal Tract
 Found in monotremes (egg-laying mammals),
insectivores (bats, shrews, moles), and dermopterans
(colugos)
 Simple stomach, little or no division between small intestines
and large intestines, large intestine simple, presence of
cecum, non-sacculated colon
 Species-Dependent
Nutritional Adaptations
 Includes involvement of:
 Teeth
 Jaws and jaw musculature
 Alimentary canal
 Stomach - May be simple or become sacculated to
compartmentalize functions for prolonged storage of
feed and utilization of bacterial fermentation (langurs
and ruminants)
 May also become voluminous for storage of large amounts
of feed (vampire bats)
 Large intestine - varies substantially in length,
compartmentalization, and complexity among species
Ruminants
 2.8 billion domesticated ruminants
 Cattle, sheep, deer, elk, bison
 Pregastric fermentation
 Ability to chew cud at frequent intervals
distinguishes true ruminant from other foregut
fermenters
 Kangaroo, colobine monkey are not true ruminants
 Four compartment stomach
 Reticulum
 Rumen
 Omasum
 Abomasum
Ruminants vary in size and habitat
Classification of Ruminants by
Feeding Preference
 Classes of ruminants
 Concentrate selectors

 Intermediate feeders

 Roughage grazers
Concentrate Selecting Species
 Properties
 Evolved early
 Small rumens
 Poorly developed omasums
 Large livers
 Limited ability to digest fiber
 Classes
 Fruit and forage selectors
 Very selective feeders
 Duikers, sunis
 Tree and shrub browsers
 Eat highly lignified plant tissues to extract cell solubles
 Deer, giraffes, kudus
 Intermediate Feeding Species
 Properties
 Seasonally adaptive
 Feeding preference
 Prefer browsing
 Moose, goats, elands
 Prefer grazing
 Sheep, impalas
 Roughage Grazing Species
 Properties
 Most recently evolved
 Larger rumens and longer retention times
 Less selective
 Digests fermentable cell wall carbohydrates
 Classes
 Fresh grass grazers
 Buffalo, cattle, gnus
 Roughage grazers
 Hartebeests, topis
 Dry region grazers
 Camels, antelope, oryxes
Structures in Mouth
 Lips
 Teeth
 Tongue
 Salivary glands
Mouth
 Functions
 Grasp food
 Taste
 Masticate food
 Mix with saliva
Digestion in the Mouth
 Prehension
 Bringing the food to the mouth
 Upper limbs, head, beak, claws, mouth,
teeth and lips
 Mastication or chewing
 To crush the food, increase surface
area and allow enzymes to act on
molecules
 Carnivores only to reduce the size of the
particle to a size small enough to swallow
 Herbivores must chew continuously (40-
50,000 times a day) to increase surface
area
Prehension
 Seizing and conveying feed to mouth
 Mechanisms vary with behavior and diet
 Forelimbs

 Primates, raccoon
 Snout
 Elephant, tapir
 Tongue
 Anteater, cow, sheep
 Lips
 Horse, sheep, rhinoceros
Prehension
 Domestic mammals use lips, teeth and tongue
 Relative importance varies by species
 Horses
 lips when eating from manger
 teeth when grazing
 Cows and sheep have limited use of lips
 Use long rough tongue to grasp forage
 Pigs use snout to root in ground and pointed lower lip
to convey feed into mouth
 Birds use beak and tongue
 Drinking varies as well
 Most mammals use suction
 Dogs and cats use tongue to form ladle
 The Importance of Prehension
in Diet Formulation
 Black Rhino
 White Rhino (“wijd” = wide)  Prehensile upper lip for
 Squared off upper lip used to browsing
“crop” grass
 Consumes bushes and
 Grazes on savannah shrubs in forest
 Mastication
 Physical reduction of feed
 Especially important in non-ruminant
herbivores
 Adaptations with teeth
 Carnivores
 Herbivores
 Edentates (sloths, armadilloes, anteater)
 Relative toothlessness
 Morphological Adaptations
for Herbivory
 All related to finding, ingesting, masticating, and
digesting plant cell walls
 Dental adaptations for herbivory include changes
to incisors, molar occlusal surfaces, & masseter
 Solution for digestive problems is to provide a
place in digestive tract for anaerobic bacteria &
protozoans (microflora) to colonize
 Monogastric Teeth
 Function:
 Mechanically reduce particle
size
 Increase surface area
Four types:
 Incisors are used for cutting
 Canine (fangs, eye teeth,
tusks) are tearing teeth
 Premolars and molars (cheek
teeth) grind the food
 Ruminant Mouth - Teeth
Function:
 Reduce particle size
Anatomy:
 Upper dental pad
 Lower incisors
 Premolars
 Molars
 Teeth Specializations
 Carnivores
 Canine teeth
highly
developed
and used for
tearing
 Molars are
pointed for
bone crushing
 Teeth Specializations
 Omnivores
 Grinding teeth
patterns on
posterior teeth
(molars)
 Piercing and ripping
cusps on anterior
teeth (incisors)
 Tongue - used to
move feed to teeth
Jaw & Teeth Specializations
 Non-ruminant herbivores (horse)
 Incisors for nipping, molars slightly angled,
jaws move circularly (vertical and lateral)
 Ruminants
 No upper incisors, have dental pad, molars
allow only lateral movements
 Different classes - roughage eaters,
transition types, selective eaters all differ in
tongue mobility and cleft palate
 Ruminant Mouth

 Lips range from short,

relatively immobile in
nonselective grazing species to
very mobile (prehensile) in
selective grazing or
concentrate selecting species
 Chew in a lateral (grinding)
motion on one side of mouth at
a time
 Needed to increase surface area
of feed particles
 Feed chewed primarily during
rumination in grazing species
 Jaw Muscles and Mastication
 Temporalis muscle - develops maximum force on anterior portion
of jaw (largest muscle in carnivores and smallest muscle in
herbivores)
 Masseter and medial pterogoid - maximum force for crushing and
grinding
 Lateral pterogoid - allows lateral movement which is important
for grinding (highly important in herbivores, but carnivores and
many omnivores have almost no lateral movement of jaws)
Monogastric Tongue
Function:
 Comprised of three muscles
 Maneuvers food in the mouth
 Moves feed to teeth for grinding and to the
back of the mouth for swallowing
 Can distinguish between feed and toxins by
papillae or taste buds
 Ruminant Mouth - Tongue
 Drinking, chewing and forming boluses
 Prehension of feed
 Covered with rough, hook-like papillae that assist
in grasping feed
 Important in nonselective grazing species
 Taste buds
 More numerous than monogastric species
 More numerous on nonselective grazing species
 Believed that taste is primarily used for food
avoidance by grazing species while concentrate
selecting species select on the basis of smell
 Monogastric Salivary Glands
Types of Glands:
Zygomatic

Parotid

Sublingual

Mandibular
Functions of Saliva
 Moisten feed (salt and water)
 Lubrication (aids swallowing)
 Starch and(or) lipid digestion (amylase
and(or) lipase)
 Salivary Glands
Gland Type of secretion Main constituents

Parotid Serous Water, enzymes, ions

Submaxillary Mucous or mixed Mucin (mucous), mucin
plus enzymes (mixed),
water
Sublingual Mucous or mixed Mucin (mucous), mucin
plus enzymes (mixed),
water
Monogastric Salivary Glands
 Flow rate affected by:
 Parasympathetic nervous system
 Increased tone = Increased flow
 Increased flow = Increased dilution
 Sympathetic nervous system
 Increased tone = Decreased flow
 Decreased flow = Increased concentration
 Ruminant Mouth - Saliva
 From at least three paired glands
 Submaxillary, sublingual, parotid (50% of
secretions)
 Aids in mastication, swallowing, forming bolus
 No digestive enzymes in the saliva of mature
ruminants
 Provides N, P, S and Na for rumen microoganisms
 Buffering compounds to maintain rumen pH and
mucin to prevent bloat
Salivation
 Quantity and composition of saliva varies
considerably between species
 Quantity related to level of chewing activity
 Amount of secretion
 Dogs minimal (lubrication, no enzymes)
 Sheep 3-10 liters/d
 Horse 10-12 liters/d
 Cattle 130-180 liters/d
Deglutition (Swallowing)
 Reflex initiated by presence of food in
pharnyx
 Propulsion of food to stomach by
esophageal peristalsis
 Monogastric Esophagus
 Horse/Pig:
 Striated muscles for first 2/3
 Smooth muscles for last 1/3
 In horse, esophagus joins stomach at an oblique angle and
cardiac sphincter (the valve between the stomach and
esophagus) only allows one-way flow
 MOST horses cannot belch out gas or vomit
 Dog:
 Striated muscles throughout allow GREAT control of digesta
movement both directions
 Ruminant Esophagus
 Involved in rumination
 Different from monogastric esophagus
 Striated muscle along the entire length
 Provides greater strength
 Allows some voluntary control
 Funnel shaped
 Contains three sphincters active in
rumination and eructation
 Esophagus

 Species adaptations
 Ability to control
peristaltic contractions
◆ Reverse peristalsis
◆ Amount and location of
skeletal muscle
◆ Regurgitation vs.
vomiting
 Foregut
in Birds
 Crop
 Bottom of the
esophagus forms a sac
called crop
◆ Stores undigested food.
◆ Birds with crop
gorge when food is
available, store it in
crop, and slowly digest
it later