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34: Animal Nutrition and the Digestive System
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34.1: Digestive Systems - Introduction
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Animals use the organs of their digestive systems to extract important nutrients from food they consume, which can later be absorbed.
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34.2: Digestive Systems - Herbivores, Omnivores, and Carnivores
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Animals can be carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores in their eating strategies.
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34.3: Digestive Systems - Invertebrate Digestive Systems
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Invertebrate digestive systems include a gastrovascular cavity with one opening or an alimentary canal with a true mouth and anus.
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34.4: Digestive Systems - Vertebrate Digestive Systems
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Vertebrates may have a single stomach, several stomach chambers, or accessory organs that help to break down ingested food.
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34.5: Digestive Systems - Digestive System- Mouth and Stomach
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Animal digestion begins in the mouth, then moves through the pharynx, into the esophagus, and then into the stomach and small intestine.
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34.6: Digestive Systems - Digestive System- Small and Large Intestines
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Nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine and waste is prepared for elimination in the large intestine.
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34.7: Nutrition and Energy Production - Food Requirements and Essential Nutrients
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Essential nutrients are those that cannot be created by an animal’s metabolism and need to be obtained from the diet.
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34.8: Nutrition and Energy Production - Food Energy and ATP
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Animals use energy for metabolism, obtaining that energy from the breakdown of food through the process of cellular respiration.
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34.9: Digestive System Processes - Ingestion
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The first step to obtaining nutrition is ingestion, a process where food is taken in through the mouth and broken down by teeth and saliva.
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34.10: Digestive System Processes - Digestion and Absorption
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In order for nutrients (carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins) to be absorbed for energy, food must undergo chemical and mechanical digestion.
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34.11: Digestive System Processes - Elimination
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Undigested food enters the colon where water is reabsorbed into the body and excess waste is eliminated from the anus.
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34.12: Digestive System Regulation - Neural Responses to Food
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All three phases of digestive responses to food (the cephalic, gastric, and intestinal stages) are managed through enzymatic neural control.
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34.13: Digestive System Regulation - Hormonal Responses to Food
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The endocrine system controls the release of hormones responsible for starting, stopping, slowing, and quickening digestive processes.