The Digestion System of a Penguin

Gizzard

Proventriculus

-A thick muscular walled cavity that grinds and crushes the food with its grainy surface.

-Sometimes birds will eat sand or stones to help aid the gizzard in crushing the food.

Unlike most birds, sea birds including penguins, do not have a crop.

- The first part of the "stomach."

-Acidic gastric juices start to chemically break down the food.

-This compartment acts as the crop for the penguin.

-During chick season acidic levels drop from pH of 5 to a pH of 6.

Beak

The food enters the open beak.

-Penguins do not chew their food, but their bill and tongue are lined with keratinous spikes that prevent the fish from slipping out.

Why is digestion important?

What is a penguin?

Lungs

Liver

Kidney

The Digestion System of a Penguin

Esophagus

By: Kaitlyn Smith

-The tube that connects the mouth to the "stomach."

-They use peristalsis to move the food down the esophagus.

-Mucus is secreted from glands in the esophagus to help the food travel easily.

-Flightless aquatic bird.

-Lives in the Southern Hemisphere.

-18 different species.

( Temperate, Sub-Antarctic, High Antarctic)

Intestines

Cloaca

-A sac at the end of the digestive system where all the waste products from the food a uric acid from the kidneys mix to be ejected from the body.

- The cloaca also has a function in the reproductive system.

-Similar to the human intestines penguins have a duodenum, jejunum, and ilium, however, they are not as defined as in humans.

- The food next enters the duodenum where it mixes with the bile from the liver and digestive enzymes secreted by the pancreas to prepare the food to be absorbed. The pancreas also secretes sodium-bicarbonate to neutralize the acidity.

-It travels through the rest of the intestines including the jejunum and ilium where nutrients are absorbed. Entrocytes and the villus help to absorb sugar, proteins, minerals, and liquid. Inside

the villus are blood and lymph vessels that transport the nutrients.

Coprodeum - waste is delivered from the large intestine.

Urodeum - urine from the kidneys (via the ureters) and sperm and eggs from the gonads.

Proctodeum - temporarily stores and ejects material.

-It breaks down food so the nutrients can be absorbed.

6 Parts:

Beak

Esophagus

Proventriculus

Gizzard

Intestines

Cloaca

Penguin Poop

Why is their poop white?

-Birds do not urinate like humans do. They excrete uric acid which is a whitish color.

More facts...

-Penguins have fast digestive systems. Most waste is excreted 6-24 hrs. after being ingested.

-To keep their nest clean penguins projectile poop about 2-3 feet.

Bibliography

Bowen, Richard. "Digestive Physiology of Birds." Digestive Physiology of Birds. Colorado State Univirsity, 1997. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. <http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/birds/>.

Castillo, Marilyn. "Biology of Penguins." Scribd. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016. <https://www.scribd.com/doc/86857755/Biology-of-Penguins>.

Herling, C., Culik, B. M., & Hennicke, J. C. (2005). Diet of the humboldt penguin (spheniscus humboldti) in northern and southern chile. Marine Biology, 147(1), 13-25. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1547-8

Ritchison, Gary. "Bird Digestion." Bird Digestion. Department of Biological Sciences Eastern Kentucky University, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016. <http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birddigestion.html>.

Salomon, Dav id. Penguin-pedia: Photographs and Facts from One Man's Search for the Penguins of the World / David Salomon. Dallas, TX: Brown Pub Group, 2011. Print.

Svihus, B. "The Gizzard: Function, Influence of Diet Structure and Effects on Nutrient Availability." World's poultry science journal, vol. 67, no. 2, 2011., pp. 207-224 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0043933911000249>(PMI Proquest).