Pseudoruminant is a classification of animals based on their digestive tract differing from the
ruminant
Ruminants (suborder Ruminantia) are hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. The ...
s.
Hippopotami and
camels
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...
are
ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, ...
mammals with a three-chambered stomach (ruminants have a four-chambered stomach) while
equids
Equidae (sometimes known as the horse family) is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, asses, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus '' Equus' ...
(
horses
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million ...
,
asses,
zebras
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...
) and
rhinoceroses
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...
are monogastric herbivores.
Anatomy
Like ruminants, some pseudoruminants may use
foregut fermentation
Foregut fermentation is a form of digestion that occurs in the foregut of some animals. It has evolved independently in several groups of mammals, and also in the hoatzin bird.
Foregut fermentation is employed by ruminants and pseudoruminants, so ...
to break down cellulose in fibrous plant species (while most others are
hindgut fermenters with a large
cecum
The cecum or caecum is a pouch within the peritoneum that is considered to be the beginning of the large intestine. It is typically located on the right side of the body (the same side of the body as the appendix, to which it is joined). The wo ...
). But they have three-chambered stomachs (while others are monogastric) as opposed to ruminant stomachs which have four compartments.
Species
See also
*
Traditional ruminant
References
{{reflist
Mammal taxonomy
Animal anatomy
Herbivorous mammals