Venusiano Sarcastico

DeRank ™: 4,40

DeAge™ : 7304 days • Here since 11 june 2006

Dream Theater Black Clouds & Silver Linings

16 sep 10

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Dung beetles ingest and digest the feces of large animals; these contain substantial amounts of semi-digested food (the herbivorous digestive system is particularly inefficient). The most well-known insect that feeds on feces is the dung beetle, while the most widespread is the fly. Pigs are most commonly associated with the behavior of eating not only their own feces but also that of other animals or humans. Young elephants, pandas, koalas, and hippopotamuses eat their mother's feces to acquire the bacteria necessary for digesting the vegetation found in the savanna and jungle. At birth, their intestines do not contain these bacteria (they are completely sterile). Without them, they would be unable to extract any nourishment from plants. Gorillas consume their own feces and those of other individuals. Many ethologists attribute this behavior in gorillas to the need to reabsorb nutrients left undigested during the passage of vegetation through the intestines. For this reason, coprophagia has been modestly renamed "second digestion." The hypothesis is itself ridiculous, as if a digestive system is so ineffective as to leave much useful undigested material in the feces, it will be even less capable of assimilating the waste during a second passage. It is much more likely that the tendencies in question are due to perversion - something not inconceivable in animals with complex psyches like the great primates. Hamsters eat their own feces; this is thought to be a source of vitamin B and K, produced by bacteria in the intestines. Some monkeys have been seen eating horse and elephant feces to obtain salt. Coprophagia has also been observed in the naked mole rat. Coprophagic behavior is common in dogs, whose metabolism often causes mineral deficiencies that need to be quickly replenished. For this reason, dogs ingest their own feces or those of others. Horse feces are also particularly appealing to dogs.