Fiber Digestion in the Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae, a Large Bird with a Simple Gut and High Rates of Passage

Herd, R. M.; Dawson, Terence J.

doi:10.1086/physzool.57.1.30155970

Cited by 90 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Uninterrupted nighttime resting periods spent in the typical ratite resting position (Immelmann 1959, 1960, Raikow 1968) have been previously described for freeranging Ostriches (Williams et al 1993) and captive Ostriches and Emus , Degen et al 1989. Similarly, Blache and Martin (1999) reported no feeding activity in their Emus during darkness, and Herd and Dawson (1984) indicated that Emus were not active at night and usually did not defecate during the night period. Our Emus (but not Ostriches and Greater Rheas) were observed to defecate in their typical resting position (and did not feed or even move when these feces were removed at night).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Comparative digesta retention patterns in ratites

Frei

Ortmann

Reutlinger³

et al. 2015

The Auk

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Ratites differ distinctively in the anatomy of their digestive tract. For example, Ostriches (Struthio camelus) have a particularly long, voluminous colon and long paired caeca, Rheas (Rhea spp.) are characterised by a short colon with particularly prominent paired caeca, and Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) -have neither very prominent caeca nor a prominent colon. We tested whether digesta excretion patterns corresponded to these differences in anatomy, expecting Ostriches to have the longest and Emus the shortest digesta retention times, and Rheas possibly showing a selective retention of fluids observed in other birds and mammals with prominent caeca. We used 6 Ostriches (97-123kg), 5 Greater Rheas (R. americana, 22-27kg) and 2 Emus (32-34kg) fed a common diet of alfalfa pellets ad libitum in captivity. Intake per unit of metabolic body mass did not differ between Ostriches and Rheas but was significantly higher in Emus, which also displayed higher defecation frequencies and lower fiber digestibility. Mean digesta retention time for small fiber particles (2 mm) differed significantly among species ; Emu: 1.3-1.8h), but there were no differences between the retention of 2 mm or 8 mm particles or a solute marker within species. The shape of the marker excretion curves corresponded to digesta mixing in the digestive tract of Ostriches and Rheas but not Emus. The calculated dry matter gut fill (% of body mass) was significantly higher in Ostriches (1.6-1.8) than Rheas (0.3-1.0) and Emus (0.2). Ostriches had the highest, and Emus the lowest fecal dry matter concentration. These physiological findings match the differences in digestive anatomy and support the concept that in ratites, herbivory -and hence flightlessness -evolved repeatedly in different ways. ABSTRACT Ratites differ distinctively in the anatomy of their digestive tracts. For example, Common Ostriches (Struthio camelus, hereafter Ostriches) have a particularly long, voluminous colon and long, paired caeca; Rheas (Rhea spp.) are characterized by a short colon with particularly prominent paired caeca; and Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) have neither prominent caeca nor a prominent colon. We tested whether digesta excretion patterns corresponded to these differences in anatomy, expecting Ostriches to have the longest and Emus the shortest digesta retention times, and Rheas possibly showing a selective retention of fluids observed in other birds and mammals with prominent caeca. We used 6 Ostriches (97-123 kg), 5 Greater Rheas (R. americana, 22-27 kg), and 2 Emus (32-34 kg) fed a common diet of alfalfa pellets ad libitum in captivity. Intake per unit of metabolic body mass did not differ between Ostriches and Greater Rheas but was significantly higher in Emus, which also displayed higher defecation frequencies and lower fiber digestibility. Mean digesta retention time for small fiber particles (2 mm) differed significantly among species (Ostrich: 30-36 h; Greater Rhea: 7-19 h; Emu: 1.3-1.8 h), but there were no differences between the retention o...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Comparative digesta retention patterns in ratites

Frei

Ortmann

Reutlinger³

et al. 2015

The Auk

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“…The coefficients for cocksfoot and midribbed snow-tussock were similar to those reported for red grouse fed heather (Moss & Parkinson 1972) and willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) fed blueberry shoots (Vaccinium myrtillus) (Pullianinen et al 1968) (0.21-0.31) but lower than those reported for Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and Atlantic brant geese (Branta bernicla) fed marsh plants (Buchsbaum et al 1986) (0.36-0.39). Furthermore, the coefficients of adsorption were also reported to be lower in the takahe compared with the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) (0.6-0.8) (Herd & Dawson 1984). For geese, relatively low coefficients compared with other grass herbivores were a result of their inefficiency at digesting cell wall polysaccharides (Buchsbaum et al 1986).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The nutritional value of cocksfoot(Dactylis glomerataL.), midribbed snow‐tussock(Chionochloa pallensZotov), and red tussock(Chionochloa rubraZotov) for the takahe(Porphyrio hochstetteriMeyer)

James

Moore

Mills

et al. 2004

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand

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A feeding trial was carried out to determine the nutritional value of midribbed snow-tussock (Chionochloa pallens Zotov), red tussock (Chionochloa rubra Zotov), and cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) for the takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri Meyer), an endangered flightless herbivorous rail endemic to New Zealand. Three captive-reared birds were fed each of the diets for 11 days, during which food intake, faecal plus urinary output, nutrient balances and coefficients of absorption/retention of energy, nitrogen, soluble sugars, starch, and mineral elements were determined. The mean dry matter (DM) intake was of the order cocksfoot > midribbed snow-tussock > red tussock. The proportions of total soluble sugars absorbed from all grasses were in the range 0.8-0.96, whilst the proportions of energy absorbed (0.24, 0.17, -0.29) and nitrogen retained (0.19, 0.15, -0.04) from all grasses were low. Cocksfoot was nutritionally superior to the tussocks for most parameters measured, suggesting that islands with pasture habitat should adequately meet the requirements of takahe.

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“…However, Savage (1970) reported the presence of some filamentous bacteria in the small intestine of domestic chickens. Herd and Dawson (1984) and Buchsbaum et al (1986) conducted separate studies on Emu and Geese, respectively, and concluded that microbial fermentation in the small intestine plays a significant role in these birds. There is however, a dearth of information on the microbial flora from the gut of pigeon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helminth–bacteria interaction in the gut of domestic pigeon Columba livia domestica

2014

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The present paper is an attempt to study the interaction between the helminth parasite and bacteria residing in the gut of domestic pigeon, Columba livia domestica. Biochemical and molecular characterization of the gut bacterial isolate were done and the isolate was identified as Staphylococcus sp. DB1 (JX442510). The interaction of Staphylococcus sp. with Cotugnia cuneata, an intestinal helminth parasite of domestic pigeon was studied on the basis of the difference between 'mean worm burden' of antibiotic treated infected pigeons and infected pigeons without any antibiotic treatment. The ANOVA and Tukey tests of the data obtained showed that antibiotic treatment reduced the mean worm burden significantly. The biochemical properties of Staphylococcus sp. DB1 (JX442510) also showed a mutualistic relationship with the physiology of C. cuneata.

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Fiber Digestion in the Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae, a Large Bird with a Simple Gut and High Rates of Passage

Cited by 90 publications

References 27 publications

Comparative digesta retention patterns in ratites

Comparative digesta retention patterns in ratites

The nutritional value of cocksfoot(Dactylis glomerataL.), midribbed snow‐tussock(Chionochloa pallensZotov), and red tussock(Chionochloa rubraZotov) for the takahe(Porphyrio hochstetteriMeyer)

Helminth–bacteria interaction in the gut of domestic pigeon Columba livia domestica

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