Other Herbivores

 Herbivores generally have three special adaptations that enable them to digest cellulose.

 • They have long intestines, which may ne about 40m in a cow. Digestion is slower than in other mammals.

 • They have a caecum and appendix for harbouring their mutualistic partners, the Cellulase producing bacteria.

 • Some herbivores like cows and goats have a special king of stomach. These animals are called ruminants. Their stomachs have four chambers. The first chamber is the largest and is known as the rumen.

    when a cow eat grass, it swallows it first without chewing. This grass goes to the rumen where it is churned up and mixed with bacteria. after some time, the cow stop eating and brings up (regurgitates) some of the grass from the rumen and chews it. This is known as cud chewing. On swallowing, the chewed cud goes through the other three chambers in the stomach and to to small intestine for further digestion and absorption of glucose, the end product of cellulose digestion.