How the Red Fox Digests Food
The digestion that occurs in the red fox is very similar to that of a humans, considering they are both mammals. Both have mainly the same organs, and like humans, the red fox has special adaptations that help it digest its food.
1) First, the food enters
the mouth where mechanical digestion takes place (chewing), and chemical
digestion does as well with digestive enzymes found in the salivary
gland. Foxes have sharp canines suited to tear apart their food because they eat a lot of tough meat. (1)
2) Then, the esophagus
transports the food down into the
stomach.
3) Then, most of the
digestion occurs in the stomach, where both mechanical and chemical digestion
take place. The food now becomes
liquid.
4) The food then travels
to the small intestine, where most of the nutrients are absorbed for the body to
use. The liver, pancreas and galbladder all participate in this part of digestion. The liver makes bile, which contain bile salts to break down fats. Bile is stored in the galbladder. The pancreas contains both hormones and enzymes to further digest food. (2)
5) After the small
intestine comes the cecum, which is a diverticulum at the joining of the small
and large intestines, where the fluids and salts left behind from
digestion/absorption are mixed with
mucus. Larger cecums are needed to break down more cellulose, found in the cell walls of plants, but since the red fox does not consume a lot of cellulose, it has a smaller cecum. (3)
6) Then the food travels
into the large intestine, where water is absorbed and feces is
formed.
7) Feces/waste is excreted
through the rectum. (4)
(1): http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210360/teeth.html
(2): http://www.life.illinois.edu/ib/462/Trophic%20ecology%20notes.pdf
(3): http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::550::400::/sites/dl/free/0078695104/383923/Ch30.swf::Visualizing%20the%20Digestive%20Systems%20of%20Mammals
(4): http://www.srvhs.org/staff/teachers/CSoldati/mammalian%20digestive%20system.htm
1) First, the food enters
the mouth where mechanical digestion takes place (chewing), and chemical
digestion does as well with digestive enzymes found in the salivary
gland. Foxes have sharp canines suited to tear apart their food because they eat a lot of tough meat. (1)
2) Then, the esophagus
transports the food down into the
stomach.
3) Then, most of the
digestion occurs in the stomach, where both mechanical and chemical digestion
take place. The food now becomes
liquid.
4) The food then travels
to the small intestine, where most of the nutrients are absorbed for the body to
use. The liver, pancreas and galbladder all participate in this part of digestion. The liver makes bile, which contain bile salts to break down fats. Bile is stored in the galbladder. The pancreas contains both hormones and enzymes to further digest food. (2)
5) After the small
intestine comes the cecum, which is a diverticulum at the joining of the small
and large intestines, where the fluids and salts left behind from
digestion/absorption are mixed with
mucus. Larger cecums are needed to break down more cellulose, found in the cell walls of plants, but since the red fox does not consume a lot of cellulose, it has a smaller cecum. (3)
6) Then the food travels
into the large intestine, where water is absorbed and feces is
formed.
7) Feces/waste is excreted
through the rectum. (4)
(1): http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210360/teeth.html
(2): http://www.life.illinois.edu/ib/462/Trophic%20ecology%20notes.pdf
(3): http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::550::400::/sites/dl/free/0078695104/383923/Ch30.swf::Visualizing%20the%20Digestive%20Systems%20of%20Mammals
(4): http://www.srvhs.org/staff/teachers/CSoldati/mammalian%20digestive%20system.htm