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

Angela Schwarm (1, 2, 3) , Sylvia Ortmann (1) , Wolfram Rietschel (4) , Ragnar Kühne (5) , Gudrun Wibbelt (1) , Marcus Clauss (6)

1 IZW - Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
2 Department of Nutritional Physiology “Oskar Kellner”
3 Freie Universität Berlin
4 Zoological and Botanical Garden of Stuttgart
5 Zoological Garden of Berlin
6 Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife, Vetsuisse Faculty

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.

Mots clés: Digestive anatomy; Digestive morphometry; Foregut fermenter; Forestomach; Tayassuidae

Angela Schwarm, Sylvia Ortmann, Wolfram Rietschel, Ragnar Kühne, Gudrun Wibbelt, et al.. Function, size and form of the gastrointestinal tract of the collared (Linnaeus 1758) and white-lipped peccary (Link 1795). European Journal of Wildlife Research, 2009, 56 (4), pp.569-576. ⟨10.1007/s10344-009-0348-2⟩. ⟨hal-00547632⟩