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Answer
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| Why is it necessary for herbivores to have a symbiotic relationship with microbes?
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- Mammals cannot digest insoluble carbohydrates, which make up a significant proportion of the herbivorous diet. Microbes can produce the enzymes for insoluble carbohydrate digestion
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| What structural feature prevents cellulose being digested in mammals?
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| What is the advantage of being a hindgut fermenter?
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- The animal has access to soluble carbohydrates, like glucose, before the microbes do. The brain can only utilise glucose as its energy source.
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| In terms of protein, why are foregut fermenters at an advantage to hindgut fermenters?
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- Microbes in the foregut can utilise poor quality protein and non - proteinaceous sources to make all of the amino acids. When the microbes die, they pass down into the intestine and are available to the animal.
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| What other disadvantages are hindgut fermenters at to foregut fermenters?
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- Vitamins synthesised by microbes are not available to the animal. Poisonous compounds are able to damage the mucosa of the small intestine before they reach the microbes in the large intestine.
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