Pseudoruminant is a classification of animals based on their digestive tract differing from the
ruminant
Ruminants ( suborder Ruminantia) are hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. Th ...
s.
Hippopotami and
camels are
ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraff ...
mammals with a three-chambered stomach (ruminants have a four-chambered stomach) while
equids (
horses
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million ...
,
asses,
zebras) and
rhinoceroses are monogastric herbivores.
Anatomy
Like ruminants, some pseudoruminants may use
foregut fermentation to break down cellulose in fibrous plant species (while most others are
hindgut fermenters with a large
cecum). But they have three-chambered stomachs (while others are monogastric) as opposed to ruminant stomachs which have four compartments.
Species
See also
*
Traditional ruminant
References
{{reflist
Mammal taxonomy
Animal anatomy
Herbivorous mammals