Biology 2009 JAMB Past Questions - Question 12: Chewing the cud is an adaptation peculiar to

Correct Answer

D

Explanation

D- Large herbivores like sheep, cow, giraffe etc chew the cud and have acomplicated stomach consisting of four chambers. They cut grasses and swailow them without chewing until they satisfy their appetite. They then ije down quietly and chew the cud that is, they regurgitate the grasses into the mouth and chew them thcroughly. The chewed grasses are sent back to other chambersof the stomach. In rodents ornon ruminants e.g.., Rabbit, grasses are thoroughly chewed "and digestion occurs. However cellulose which is a major component of the grass is not digested in the small intestine where absorption naturally occurs. It is digested in the caecum which houses cellulase secreting bacteria. The glucose so formed cannot be absorbed and so rabbit passes the digested food out as soft, mucus covered pellets. Rabbit quickly eats up the pellets. On getting to the small intestine, the glucose is absorbed.