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Retention Of Different-Sized Particles And Derived Gut Fill Estimate In Tammar Wallabies (Macropus Eugenii): Physiological And Methodological Considerations, Adam J. Munn, Susie Tomlinson, Tom Savage, Marcus Clauss

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The capacity of the digestive tract is an important parameter in understanding digestive adaptations, particularly in herbivores. Measures of this capacity (‘gut fill’) are commonly performed in killed animals, which has ethical and logistical implications. Alternatively, dry matter gut contents (DMC) can be estimated in live animals from food intake, digesta retention and digestibility, based on physical principles (Holleman and White, Can. J. Zool. 67, 488–494, 1989). Although this method has been used to some extent, it still awaits thorough validation. Here we estimated DMC in seven tammar wallabies during 5-day feeding trials and compared the results to those gained …