ruminant
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
- National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Biology and Diseases of Ruminants (Sheep, Goats, and Cattle)
- Mississippi State University Extension Service - Understanding the Ruminant Animal Digestive System
- AZ Animals - Ruminant
- The Natural History Collections of The University of Edinburgh - Suborder Ruminatia
- Related Topics:
- bovid
- deer
- chevrotain
- Giraffidae
- Moschidae
ruminant, (suborder Ruminantia), any mammal of the suborder Ruminantia (order Artiodactyla), which includes the pronghorns, giraffes, okapis, deer, chevrotains, cattle, antelopes, sheep, and goats. Most ruminants have a four-chambered stomach and two-toed feet. The upper incisors are reduced or sometimes absent. Camels and chevrotains, however, have a three-chambered stomach and are often referred to as pseudoruminants.
Ruminants eat quickly. However, they are unable to digest grasses, foliage, and other types of plant material directly, for their bodies do not produce enzymes capable of breaking down cellulose. Digestion occurs sequentially in a multichambered stomach. In ruminants with a four-chambered stomach, ingested plant material is stored in the first chamber, called the rumen, where it softens. They later regurgitate this material, called cud, and chew it again to further break down its cellulose content, which is difficult to digest. The chewed cud goes directly to the other chambers of the stomach (the reticulum, omasum, and abomasum), where it is further digested with the aid of various essential microorganisms that live in the stomach. The pseudoruminant digestive process is very similar, also involving regurgitation and cud chewing, though the stomach is divided into three chambers.
