Pseudoruminant is a classification of animals based on their digestive tract differing from the
ruminant
Ruminants are herbivorous grazing or browsing artiodactyls belonging to the suborder Ruminantia that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microb ...
s.
Hippopotami and
camels
A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide ...
are
ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
mammals with a three-chambered stomach (ruminants have a four-chambered stomach) while
equids (
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 milli ...
,
asses,
zebras
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped Animal coat, coats. There are three Extant taxon, living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and t ...
) and
rhinoceroses
A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
are monogastric herbivores.
Anatomy
Like ruminants, some pseudoruminants may use
foregut fermentation to break down cellulose in fibrous plant species (while most others are
hindgut fermenters with a large
cecum
The cecum ( caecum, ; plural ceca or caeca, ) 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 (a ...
). 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