Question

Appendix in rabbit’s digestive system is
A. Absent
B. Very useful
C. Useless
D. Vestigial

Answer 1

Hint: As a herbivore, the rabbit is uniquely intended for consuming large amounts of plant material. The plants eaten by rabbits are high in fibre, which is indigestible to the digestive enzymes of mammals. This means that the nutrients found in these plants can not be utilised by humans and many other animals. The digestive system of the rabbit, however, makes it capable of eating these plants and making the most of their nutrients.

Complete Answer:
- The digestive system's primary function is to digest food and absorb nutrients. Digestion is the mechanism by which food components are divided into small enough units to be absorbed through the wall of the digestive tract.
- This provides nutrients, such as during growth, pregnancy, and lactation, for the animal to be used for daily needs or for production.
- Protection from toxins, or bacteria, in food is another function of the digestive tract.
- In humans and apes, the appendix is a small, tubular structure situated at the apex of the cecum, a blind pouch at the beginning of the large intestine (hence the term vermiform or "worm-like," appendix).
- There are appendages for rabbits and some rodents, and research on these animals has started to shed some light on the mystery of the working of the organs.
- The sack-like rabbit appendix was previously believed to serve primarily as a reservoir for the bacteria involved in the fermentation of the hindgut.
- However, the reasoning did not account for the lack of, or appearance in humans of, an appendix in other species with similar digestive systems.The appendix is a hollow finger-like projection at the junction between the small intestine and the large intestine, which hangs from the occum.
- The appendix does not work in humans; however, the appendix is very large in some species, such as rabbits, and helps digest cellulose from bark and wood that rabbits consume. Therefore, the appendix in humans is a vestigial organ that may have been used before the evolution of Homo for previous forms of ancestral human digestive processes.

The correct answer is option (B) Very useful.

Note: If food gets stuck in the appendix, irritation of its membranes, a condition known as appendicitis, may lead to swelling and inflammation. If the condition becomes serious, in order to prevent a life-threatening condition if it were to rupture, removal of the appendix is necessary.