this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2024
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Science Memes

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Platypuses (mander.xyz)
submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 52 points 3 months ago (2 children)

No stomach?! Does food go straight to the colon?

[–] [email protected] 72 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

I went down this rathole.

They first grind up the bugs they eat in their mouths, then they have a chamber with bacteria which further reduce their food, then their intestines finish the job.

ETA, since you all are such curious cats:

https://wildlifefaq.com/platypus-stomach/

and

https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-myths/

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago (2 children)

so whats the chamber between the mouth and intestine called?

[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 months ago

https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-myths/

The fact is that the platypus’s digestive tract does include a small expanded pouch-like section where one would normally expect a stomach to be located. The platypus’s stomach doesn’t secrete digestive acids or enzymes (Harrop and Hume 1980; Ordoñez et al. 2008), but does produce a mucus-rich fluid to assist nutrient absorption in the intestines (Krause 1971). Following on from the discussion of grinding pads above, it would seem that a platypus masticates food so thoroughly in its mouth that little additional processing is required before food reaches the intestines. Also, because a platypus consumes numerous small prey items over a period of many hours, its stomach doesn’t need to have a large holding capacity to accommodate infrequent large meals.

Sooo, "gullet"?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 months ago

A pseudo-stomach? IDK...

I think since it's using bacteria and not acid, it's not a "stomach", just performs the same type of function.

[–] JackbyDev 12 points 3 months ago

Oh, is it like a gizard type of thing sort of?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for doing so, did you figure out why they glow?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Lol, I think that's only in the cartoon, eh.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Shit your being downvoted, now I have to go look myself.. if I don't return I likely have been abducted by egg laying mammals

[–] [email protected] 50 points 3 months ago

Yes, platypuses lost their stomach during evolution, so they basically grind food using gravel and their beak before sending it to the intestine, which has taken on some of the functions performed by stomachs in other animals. Source