Question

How many stomachs does a camel have?

Answer 1

Hint: The herbivorous mammals that can take their nutrients from the food that is plant-based by the process of fermentation are called ruminants. Further to break down plant matter after the time of rechewing the cud and stimulate digestion is called rumination. The reference of the word ruminant is chewed over again and it comes from the Latin word 'ruminare'.

Complete answer:
The stomach is categorised into different chambers in ruminants which are:
Rumen: This chamber plays a major role in the churning process, cellulose, and hemicellulose digestion. It also plays a major role in the fermentation of bacteria.
Reticulum: This chamber first takes and after that stores large feed particles temporarily.
Omasum: This chamber plays a major role in the absorption of water.
Abomasum: This chamber is the same as the human stomach and plays a major role in protein digestion. It is termed as true stomach.

One part which is not present in the camel is known as omasum. In camels, only 3 ruminant stomach chambers are known to exist, namely rumen, reticulum, and abomasum.

For the temporary storage of food and water, the camel consists of diverticula or water pockets in rumen and reticulum.
The digestion of protein that is taken in by camel from both feed and ruminal microbes is accomplished by the abomasum chamber of the stomach.

The major role of the rumen in camels is to break down food particles with the help of mechanical digestion and fermentation by using symbiotic microbes. It also plays role in the removal of waste particles.
The chamber reticulum in the camel possesses water pockets or diverticula that helps to store food.

Note: In the stomach of mammal’s different chambers are known to occur that perform various functions like storage of food and water, digestion of nutrients, etc. All the food particles and water breakage occur in the stomach rumen. The large food particle is present and stored in the reticulum for some time. The water we drink is present and absorbed by the omasum and nutrient digestion takes place by the abomasum chamber of the stomach.