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Ruminant Digestion

• Relationships Between Organisms

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What is a ruminant?

• Specialized digestive system capable of digesting cellulose.

• Has a stomach with 4 distinct compartments

• Cattle, sheep, goats, deer & elk.

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Compartment Capacity

• Reticulum 5% of capacity

• Rumen 80% of capacity

• Omasum 7% of capacity

• Abomasum 8% of capacity

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Reticulum

• Hardware stomach• Holds foreign materials like nails

Omasum* Muscular section that squeezes out

excess water from food products before passing along in the digestive process.

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Rumen• Largest compartment

• Storage area

• Millions of bacteria and protozoa live here and break down cellulose into digestible protein and carbohydrates

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Abomasum• True stomach

• Site of chemical digestion

• Digestive juices containing enzymes break down food products to be absorbed by the small intestine

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Ruminant Digestive System

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Types of Relationships between organisms

• Mutualism each helps the other.• Commensalism one benefits, the other

does not.• Parasitism one depend on the other for

essential food factor, usually harmful to the host.

• Phoresis the host carries the “symbiont”

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Can you guess the type of relationship between

these animals?

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Commensalism

What is the relationship between…

A tick and a dog?

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Mutalism

What is the relationship between…

A human and a dairy cow?

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Parasitism

What is the relationship between…

A lamprey and a trout?

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Phoresis

What is the relationship between…

A whale

and a barnacle?

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Vocabulary Review

Monogastric A digestive system with one stomach compartment

Polygastric A digestive system capable of breaking down cellulose into digestible protein and

carbohydrates. The stomach is divided into compartments each with a specialized function.

Ruminant An animal with a polygastric digestive system.Rumination Part of the process of digestion in a

polygastric system where a bolus is regurgitated, re- chewed and swallowed.

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Vocabulary Review

Abomasum Site of chemical digestion in a polygastric digestive system.

Reticulum “hardware stomach” holding area for foreign materials in a polygastric system.

Rumen Largest compartment of the polygastric system, serves as a storage area.

Omasum Muscular portion of the polygastric system that squeezes excess water from digested

food products.

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Vocabulary Review

Mastication The act of chewing where salivary enzymes are added to food products.

Bacterial digestion The bacterial and protozoa action in the rumen of a polygastric

digestive system that breaks down cellulose into digestible carbohydrate and protein products and synthesizes B vitamins.

Bolus Partially chewed food held in the reticulum that is regurgitated, chewed

completely and re- swallowed.

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Vocabulary Review

Parasitism Relationship between two organisms where one depends on the other

for some essential food factor, often to the detriment of the host.

Mutualism Relationship between two organisms where one benefits and the

other doesn’t.Commensalism Relationship between two organisms

where one benefits and the other doesn’t’.

Phoresis Relationship between two organisms where the host transport the sybiont.