The digestive physiology of marsupials

Petauroides volans (Diprotodontia: Pseudocheiridae)

“…Petauroides volans is close to the lower limit of body weight at which mammals could be expected to sustain a strictly folivorous diet, and for this reason the species' nutrition, digestion, and metabolism have been of particular interest to animal physiologists (Dash 1988;Foley 1987;Foley andHume 1987a, 1987b;Foley et al 1987Foley et al , 2004Hume 1982Hume , 1999Hume , 2004Hume et al 1984;McIlwee et al 2001). Various strategies are used to cope with the highfiber, low-nutrient diet and the metabolic burden of detoxifying secondary plant compounds including selective retention of fine particulate digesta in the oversized cecum (Foley and Hume 1987a;Hume 1999).…”

Petauroides volans (Diprotodontia: Pseudocheiridae)

“…Petauroides volans is close to the lower limit of body weight at which mammals could be expected to sustain a strictly folivorous diet, and for this reason the species' nutrition, digestion, and metabolism have been of particular interest to animal physiologists (Dash 1988;Foley 1987;Foley andHume 1987a, 1987b;Foley et al 1987Foley et al , 2004Hume 1982Hume , 1999Hume , 2004Hume et al 1984;McIlwee et al 2001). Various strategies are used to cope with the highfiber, low-nutrient diet and the metabolic burden of detoxifying secondary plant compounds including selective retention of fine particulate digesta in the oversized cecum (Foley and Hume 1987a;Hume 1999).…”

Feeding biomechanics in vertebrates and beyond

“…By contrast, in foregut fermenters the microbial fermentation takes place in the forestomach anterior to the acid-stomach. This includes non-ruminant mammals such as the kangaroos as well as ruminant mammals such as sheep (Hume, 1982;Van Soest, 1996). Ruminants additionally maximize the efficiency of plant digestion by combining a specialized four-chambered stomach, the first of which (the rumen) functions as a massive fermentation site, and periodical regurgitating and rechewing of partially digested food (Stevens & Hume, 2004).…”

Food Acquisition and Processing as a Function of Plant Chemistry

“…Caecal fermenters on the other hand are thought to process material more rapidiy, but less efficiently, and as a consequence of faster throughput can exist on diets of poorer quality (Janis, 1976) although re cent observations (Hume, 1982) indicate that passage rates of solids can be exceedingly slow. Janis (1976) points out that caecal fermentation also has the advantage of permitting assimilation of readily available nutrients be fore they have to be fshared f with microbial symbionts.…”

Petauroides volans (Diprotodontia: Pseudocheiridae)

“…Petauroides volans is close to the lower limit of body weight at which mammals could be expected to sustain a strictly folivorous diet, and for this reason the species' nutrition, digestion, and metabolism have been of particular interest to animal physiologists (Dash 1988;Foley 1987;Foley andHume 1987a, 1987b;Foley et al 1987Foley et al , 2004Hume 1982Hume , 1999Hume , 2004Hume et al 1984;McIlwee et al 2001). Various strategies are used to cope with the highfiber, low-nutrient diet and the metabolic burden of detoxifying secondary plant compounds including selective retention of fine particulate digesta in the oversized cecum (Foley and Hume 1987a;Hume 1999).…”

Feeding biomechanics in vertebrates and beyond

“…By contrast, in foregut fermenters the microbial fermentation takes place in the forestomach anterior to the acid-stomach. This includes non-ruminant mammals such as the kangaroos as well as ruminant mammals such as sheep (Hume, 1982;Van Soest, 1996). Ruminants additionally maximize the efficiency of plant digestion by combining a specialized four-chambered stomach, the first of which (the rumen) functions as a massive fermentation site, and periodical regurgitating and rechewing of partially digested food (Stevens & Hume, 2004).…”

Food Acquisition and Processing as a Function of Plant Chemistry

“…Caecal fermenters on the other hand are thought to process material more rapidiy, but less efficiently, and as a consequence of faster throughput can exist on diets of poorer quality (Janis, 1976) although re cent observations (Hume, 1982) indicate that passage rates of solids can be exceedingly slow. Janis (1976) points out that caecal fermentation also has the advantage of permitting assimilation of readily available nutrients be fore they have to be fshared f with microbial symbionts.…”

Petauroides volans (Diprotodontia: Pseudocheiridae)

“…Petauroides volans is close to the lower limit of body weight at which mammals could be expected to sustain a strictly folivorous diet, and for this reason the species' nutrition, digestion, and metabolism have been of particular interest to animal physiologists (Dash 1988;Foley 1987;Foley andHume 1987a, 1987b;Foley et al 1987Foley et al , 2004Hume 1982Hume , 1999Hume , 2004Hume et al 1984;McIlwee et al 2001). Various strategies are used to cope with the highfiber, low-nutrient diet and the metabolic burden of detoxifying secondary plant compounds including selective retention of fine particulate digesta in the oversized cecum (Foley and Hume 1987a;Hume 1999).…”

Feeding biomechanics in vertebrates and beyond

“…By contrast, in foregut fermenters the microbial fermentation takes place in the forestomach anterior to the acid-stomach. This includes non-ruminant mammals such as the kangaroos as well as ruminant mammals such as sheep (Hume, 1982;Van Soest, 1996). Ruminants additionally maximize the efficiency of plant digestion by combining a specialized four-chambered stomach, the first of which (the rumen) functions as a massive fermentation site, and periodical regurgitating and rechewing of partially digested food (Stevens & Hume, 2004).…”

Food Acquisition and Processing as a Function of Plant Chemistry

“…Caecal fermenters on the other hand are thought to process material more rapidiy, but less efficiently, and as a consequence of faster throughput can exist on diets of poorer quality (Janis, 1976) although re cent observations (Hume, 1982) indicate that passage rates of solids can be exceedingly slow. Janis (1976) points out that caecal fermentation also has the advantage of permitting assimilation of readily available nutrients be fore they have to be fshared f with microbial symbionts.…”