this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2025
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Feces is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. (slrpnk.net)
submitted 2 months ago by kriz@slrpnk.net to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] ClipperDefiance@lemmy.world 43 points 2 months ago (3 children)

That's basically what rabbits do. From Wikipedia:

Easily digestible food is processed in the gastrointestinal tract and expelled as regular feces. To get nutrients out of hard to digest fiber, rabbits ferment fiber in the cecum (part of the gastrointestinal tract) and then expel the contents as cecotropes, which are reingested (cecotrophy or refection). The cecotropes are then absorbed in the small intestine to use the nutrients. Soft cecotropes are usually consumed during periods of rest in underground burrows.

[–] SippyCup@feddit.nl 13 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Humans may be unique among mammals for not eating our own shit, the shit of others, or just any random shit we find.

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 months ago

any random shit we find.

That's not my experience during my college years.

[–] spooky2092@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 months ago

My man hasn't heard of 'yellow soup'

[–] NABDad@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Guinea pigs too.

You'll be holding the piggie, and she'll curl up and grab a fresh turd right from the source and chomp that up.

[–] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I've always wondered if the people who keep pet rabbits and teach them to use litter boxes are hurting the bunnies by preventing them from doing this. Or will the rabbits just eat clay-covered cecotropes?

[–] call_me_xale@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Bunny ~~owner~~ servant here, I can answer this!

Rabbits produce two kinds of feces: normal "waste" feces and edible "cecotropes" or "cecal pellets". They generally eat the cecotropes immediately after excreting them, and only drop the waste into their litterboxes.

[–] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

How do they know‽

[–] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 months ago

One would assume by feel during excretion...

[–] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Do they deposit the cecal pellets in the litterboxes, or do they just do them any where they please and immediately munch on em?

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

They deposit them directly into their mouth. They know when they’re about to produce one and they reach down there with their mouth and consume it directly.

If you think about where wild rabbits spend most of their time (underground in burrows surrounded by dirt) this makes total sense. By not allowing cecotropes to touch the ground, they avoid contamination with soil-borne pathogens.