Whales are carnivores that feed on small shrimp-like crustaceans. Yet their digestive systems do not resemble those of carnivorous mammals. Surprisingly, their stomachs are most similar to those of cows!<\/p>\n
The stomachs of whales are compartmentalized into multiple chambers (or stomachs) like those of ruminants. Biologist and whale expert Pierre-Henry Fontaine explains, \u201ccompartments allow them to swallow large quantities of food quickly and without having to chew.\u201d<\/p>\n
In cows, these compartments serve to break down the cellulose found in plants in order to digest it. They ruminate their food, which means they digest it a first time, regurgitate it, swallow it again and digest it for good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whales are carnivores that feed on small shrimp-like crustaceans. Yet their digestive systems do not resemble those of carnivorous mammals. Surprisingly, their stomachs are most similar to those of cows! The stomachs of whales are compartmentalized into multiple chambers (or stomachs) like those of ruminants. Biologist and whale expert Pierre-Henry Fontaine explains, \u201ccompartments allow them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":39516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[48,792,793,794],"class_list":["post-46696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whale-qa","tag-alimentation-en","tag-ongule-en","tag-ruminer-en","tag-systeme-digestif-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n