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Function, size and form of the gastrointestinal tract of the collared Pecari tajacu (Linnaeus 1758) and white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari (Link 1795)

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Abstract

The peccary digestive tract is characterised by an elaborate forestomach. In order to further characterise the digestive function of peccaries, we report body mass, digestive organ mass, content mass of the gastrointestinal tract compartments and their length and width, as well as liver, parotis and mandibular gland mass. Our data on eleven collared and four white-lipped peccaries suggest that peccaries have a small relative stomach volume compared to other foregut fermenters, which implies a comparatively lower fermentative capacity and thus forage digestibility. The forestomach could enable peccaries to deal, in conjunction with their large parotis glands, with certain plant toxins (e.g. oxalic acid). The finding of sand being trapped in the forestomach blindsacs could indicate a disadvantage of the peccary forestomach design. The relevance of the forestomach to peccaries remains enigmatic.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Zollinger, N. Brunclik, O.M. Jurado, P. Zerbe, K. Grahl, T. Dörflein, U. Fritzmann, W. Hildebrandt, Z. Mezoe and their colleagues for logistical help and their aid during dissection and J. Peter from the Institute of Veterinary Anatomy of the University of Zurich for producing the illustrations of the gastrointestinal tracts. This study was supported by grants from the Freie Universität Berlin (NaFöG) to AS and the German Science Foundation (DFG) to SO (OR 86/1-1). Sincere thanks to two anonymous reviewers and J. Axtner and S. Albrecht for valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany

    Angela Schwarm, Sylvia Ortmann & Gudrun Wibbelt

  2. Department of Nutritional Physiology “Oskar Kellner”, Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals (FBN), Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196, Dummerstorf, Germany

    Angela Schwarm

  3. Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Angela Schwarm

  4. Zoological and Botanical Garden of Stuttgart, 70342, Stuttgart, Germany

    Wolfram Rietschel

  5. Zoological Garden of Berlin, 10787, Berlin, Germany

    Ragnar Kühne

  6. Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Marcus Clauss

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  1. Angela Schwarm
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  2. Sylvia Ortmann
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  3. Wolfram Rietschel
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  4. Ragnar Kühne
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  5. Gudrun Wibbelt
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  6. Marcus Clauss
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Correspondence to Angela Schwarm.

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Communicated by F.-J. Kaup

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Schwarm, A., Ortmann, S., Rietschel, W. et al. Function, size and form of the gastrointestinal tract of the collared Pecari tajacu (Linnaeus 1758) and white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari (Link 1795). Eur J Wildl Res 56, 569–576 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0348-2

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