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The Effect of Coprophagy on the Digesta Passage through the Gut of the Daurian Pika Ochotona dauurica (Ochotonidae, Lagomorpha)

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Abstract

Fibrous food passage through the digestive tract of Daurian pika (Ochtona dauurica) was studied by means of multiple dose marking of food by neutral plastic markers. Contrary to expectations, the mean retention time in the gut was less than 6 h (as in small voles with half the body mass). Returns of markers to the stomach were noted, which may be a consequence of coprophagy, as well as retention of markers in the caecum–colon separation system. The residual excretion of markers from the digestive tract is extended to 23 h due to the re-entry of markers into the digestive tract.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Moscow, Russia

    E. I. Naumova, G. K. Zharova & T. Yu. Chistova

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  1. E. I. Naumova
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  2. G. K. Zharova
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  3. T. Yu. Chistova
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Correspondence to E. I. Naumova.

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Naumova, E.I., Zharova, G.K. & Chistova, T.Y. The Effect of Coprophagy on the Digesta Passage through the Gut of the Daurian Pika Ochotona dauurica (Ochotonidae, Lagomorpha). Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 49, 318–322 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359022040100

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359022040100

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