Jump to content

Pseudoruminant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pseudoruminant is a classification of animals based on their digestive tract differing from the ruminants. Hippopotami and camels are ungulate mammals with a three-chambered stomach (ruminants have a four-chambered stomach) while equids (horses, asses, zebras) and rhinoceroses are monogastric herbivores.[1][2]

Anatomy

[edit]

Like ruminants, some pseudoruminants may use foregut fermentation to break down cellulose in fibrous plant species (while most others are hindgut fermenters with a large cecum). But they have three-chambered stomachs (while others are monogastric) as opposed to ruminant stomachs which have four compartments.

Species

[edit]
Pseudoruminant Image Genus Weight
Common hippopotamus Hippopotamus 1.5 to 3.0 tons
Horse Equus 380 to 999 kg
One-horned rhinoceros Rhinoceros 1.8 to 2.7 tons
Rabbit Oryctolagus 1 to 2.5 kg

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Fowler, M.E. (2010). "Medicine and Surgery of Camelids", Ames, Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell. Chapter 1 General Biology and Evolution addresses the fact that camelids (including llamas and camels) are not ruminants, pseudo-ruminants, or modified ruminants.
  2. ^ Laws, Richard (1984). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: MacDonald D. ed. pp. 506–511. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.