Concept
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Created by Boundless
Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Ruminant mammal digestive system
Ruminant animals, such as goats and cows, have four stomachs. The first two stomachs, the rumen and the reticulum, contain prokaryotes and protists that are able to digest cellulose fiber. The ruminant regurgitates cud from the reticulum, chews it, and swallows it into a third stomach, the omasum, which removes water. The cud then passes onto the fourth stomach, the abomasum, where it is digested by enzymes produced by the ruminant.
Source
Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. This particular resource used the following sources:
"OpenStax College, Digestive Systems. October 17, 2013."
http://cnx.org/content/m44736/latest/Figure_34_01_07.jpg
OpenStax CNX
CC BY 3.0.