Follow us on:
  • About
    • History
    • Collections
    • Uses
    • Meet the staff
    • Curator
  • On Display
    • Floor plan
    • Animal finder >
      • By Location
      • By Animal group >
        • Vertebrates
        • Invertebrates
    • Keys and information sheets >
      • Evolution and adaptation
      • Taxonomy
      • Diet
      • Social organisation and mating system
      • Ecosystems and habitats
  • Activities
  • Visit us
    • Tours
    • School visits
    • Find us
    • Get involved
  • Get in touch
    • Visitor feedback

Ruminant stomach

Picture
Ruminants have a specialised stomach to cope with their diet of indigestible vegetation, such as grass. By having a four chambered stomach, these animals can extract enough nutrients from the relative un-nutritious grass to survive. Ruminants include animals such as cows and sheep. Cows even perform a behaviour called " chewing the cud" to increase their digestion efficiency; they regurgitate partially digested food and re-chew it to maximise the nutrition they gain from the grass.


Picture credits:

"Elementary lectures on veterinary science, for agricultural students, farmers, and stockkeepers (1913) (14597848528)" by Thompson, Henry - https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14597848528/Source book page: https://archive.org/stream/elementarylectur00thomrich/elementarylectur00thomrich#page/n203/mode/1up. Licenced under No restrictions via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elementary_lectures_on_veterinary_science,_for_agricultural_students,_farmers,_and_stockkeepers_(1913)_(14597848528).jpg#/media/File:Elementary_lectures_on_veterinary_science,_for_agricultural_students,_farmers,_and_stockkeepers_(1913)_(14597848528).jpg

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.