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Cecotrope
Cecotropes (also caecotropes, cecotrophs, caecotrophs, cecal pellets, soft feces, or night feces) are nutrient-filled packages created in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that are expelled and eaten by many animals (such as rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters, and chinchillas) to obtain more nutrients from their food. Cecotropes are distinct from feces, which are composed primarily of indigestible components.
When food passes through the GI tract the first time, the stomach and the small intestine digest the food material, absorbing simple sugars, fats, and amino acids. As the undigested material moves into the colon, the food particles are sorted by size. The smaller particles of fiber are moved into the cecum where they are fermented by microbes. This creates nutrients which are generally not absorbed well in the colon, but are stored and expelled in cecotropes, including short-chain fatty acids, vitamin B, sodium, potassium, and amino acids. The nutrients from the ingested cecotropes are absorbed in the small intestine.
Lagomorphs (a group including rabbits, hares, and pikas) are perhaps the most well-known for producing and eating cecotropes, but other monogastric fermenters, such as rodents, also produce cecotropes. Rodents including beavers, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters, and chinchillas are known cecotrophs. Other animals also eat cecotropes, such as the common ringtail possum and the coppery ringtail possum.
The act of eating cecotropes is referred to as cecotrophy, which is distinct from coprophagy, which is the eating of feces proper. Similarly, cecotropes are not fecal material, so terms such as "soft feces" and "night feces" are technically incorrect. Though cecotropes are sometimes called "night feces," they are produced throughout the day and night.
A cecotrope is a group of small balls clumped together that looks like a thin blackberry, which exits the anus all at once. Cecotropes are dark, odorous, sticky and full of nutrition. They differ from regular feces which are larger, exit the anus one at a time, smell only slightly, have very little moisture, and are a waste product.
Many cecotrophs, such as rabbits, are monogastric digesters and herbivores. The majority of food absorption occurs in the small intestine, which makes up roughly 12% of the GI tract in rabbits. Any material not yet digested enters the proximal colon. In lagomorphs, a unique structure called the fusus coli separates the proximal and distal colon and regulates the separation of food material. Food particles greater than 0.3 to 0.5 millimeters (mm) are pushed down the colon through peristalsis. These larger particles consist of mostly non-fermentable materials. Meanwhile particles less than 0.3 to 0.5 mm, which predominantly consist of fermentable fibers and proteins, are moved back into the colon and cecum through retrograde peristalsis. The ileocecal valve located at the end of the small intestine ensures the material goes to the cecum and not the small intestine.
Mammalian enzymes cannot break down fiber. However, microbes in the cecum have enzymes that are capable of breaking down fiber. The microbes in a rabbit's gut include bacteria (such as the genera Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Clostridium, Streptococcus, and Enterobacter, among others) protozoa, and yeasts.
The anaerobic fermentation in the cecum breaks down the fiber into useable food for the animal. It is also used as food for the proliferating microbes. The results of the fermentation are volatile fatty acids (VFAs), all of the B vitamins, vitamin K, microbial proteins, essential amino acids and minerals.
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Cecotrope
Cecotropes (also caecotropes, cecotrophs, caecotrophs, cecal pellets, soft feces, or night feces) are nutrient-filled packages created in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that are expelled and eaten by many animals (such as rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters, and chinchillas) to obtain more nutrients from their food. Cecotropes are distinct from feces, which are composed primarily of indigestible components.
When food passes through the GI tract the first time, the stomach and the small intestine digest the food material, absorbing simple sugars, fats, and amino acids. As the undigested material moves into the colon, the food particles are sorted by size. The smaller particles of fiber are moved into the cecum where they are fermented by microbes. This creates nutrients which are generally not absorbed well in the colon, but are stored and expelled in cecotropes, including short-chain fatty acids, vitamin B, sodium, potassium, and amino acids. The nutrients from the ingested cecotropes are absorbed in the small intestine.
Lagomorphs (a group including rabbits, hares, and pikas) are perhaps the most well-known for producing and eating cecotropes, but other monogastric fermenters, such as rodents, also produce cecotropes. Rodents including beavers, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters, and chinchillas are known cecotrophs. Other animals also eat cecotropes, such as the common ringtail possum and the coppery ringtail possum.
The act of eating cecotropes is referred to as cecotrophy, which is distinct from coprophagy, which is the eating of feces proper. Similarly, cecotropes are not fecal material, so terms such as "soft feces" and "night feces" are technically incorrect. Though cecotropes are sometimes called "night feces," they are produced throughout the day and night.
A cecotrope is a group of small balls clumped together that looks like a thin blackberry, which exits the anus all at once. Cecotropes are dark, odorous, sticky and full of nutrition. They differ from regular feces which are larger, exit the anus one at a time, smell only slightly, have very little moisture, and are a waste product.
Many cecotrophs, such as rabbits, are monogastric digesters and herbivores. The majority of food absorption occurs in the small intestine, which makes up roughly 12% of the GI tract in rabbits. Any material not yet digested enters the proximal colon. In lagomorphs, a unique structure called the fusus coli separates the proximal and distal colon and regulates the separation of food material. Food particles greater than 0.3 to 0.5 millimeters (mm) are pushed down the colon through peristalsis. These larger particles consist of mostly non-fermentable materials. Meanwhile particles less than 0.3 to 0.5 mm, which predominantly consist of fermentable fibers and proteins, are moved back into the colon and cecum through retrograde peristalsis. The ileocecal valve located at the end of the small intestine ensures the material goes to the cecum and not the small intestine.
Mammalian enzymes cannot break down fiber. However, microbes in the cecum have enzymes that are capable of breaking down fiber. The microbes in a rabbit's gut include bacteria (such as the genera Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Clostridium, Streptococcus, and Enterobacter, among others) protozoa, and yeasts.
The anaerobic fermentation in the cecum breaks down the fiber into useable food for the animal. It is also used as food for the proliferating microbes. The results of the fermentation are volatile fatty acids (VFAs), all of the B vitamins, vitamin K, microbial proteins, essential amino acids and minerals.