THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Modification of Feeding Habits
Animals show diverse feeding mechanisms adapted to their food source and habitat. The major
types are outlined below.
Filter feeders: These trap food particles suspended in water using specialized structures. Water
is drawn in and strained through sieve-like structures to collect plankton and organic particles.
Examples include baleen whales and mussels.
Fluid feeders: These feed on liquid food such as nectar, blood, or plant sap using tube-like
mouthparts (a proboscis) for piercing and sucking. Examples include butterflies (nectar),
mosquitoes (blood), and aphids (plant sap).
Insect feeders (insectivorous): These feed mainly on insects, using adapted mouthparts or
sticky tongues to catch prey. Examples include chameleons, frogs, and some carnivorous plants
such as the Venus flytrap.
Parasitic feeders: These live in or on a host, obtaining nourishment directly from host tissues or
fluids without immediately killing it. The tapeworm, for instance, lacks a digestive system
entirely and absorbs already-digested food directly through its body surface from the host's
intestine.
Saprophytic feeders: These feed on dead and decaying organic matter by secreting digestive
enzymes externally, then absorbing the soluble products. Examples include Mucor (bread mould)
and mushrooms.
Feeding in Protozoa and Hydra
Protozoa (e.g., Amoeba): Feeds by phagocytosis — the cell membrane surrounds a food
particle, forming a food vacuole. Digestive enzymes are secreted into the vacuole to break down
the food; digested nutrients diffuse into the cytoplasm while undigested waste is expelled from
the cell.
Hydra: Uses tentacles armed with stinging cells (nematocysts) to capture and paralyse prey,
drawing it into the mouth (hypostome). Digestion begins extracellularly in the gastrovascular
cavity through enzymes secreted by gland cells, followed by intracellular digestion carried out by
cells lining the cavity. Hydra has only one opening, which serves as both mouth and anus.
Feeding in Mammals
Mammals possess a complete alimentary canal with regions specialised for ingestion, digestion,
absorption, and egestion:
• Mouth — ingestion; teeth (incisors, canines, premolars, molars) mechanically break
down food, while saliva begins the digestion of starch.
• Oesophagus — transports food to the stomach by peristalsis.
• Stomach — gastric juices (pepsin and hydrochloric acid) digest proteins; food is churned
into chyme.
• Small intestine — the main site of digestion (aided by bile and pancreatic and intestinal
enzymes) and absorption (via villi).
• Large intestine — absorption of water and salts.
• Rectum/anus — storage and egestion of undigested waste (faeces).
Modification of Teeth to Suit Diet
The structure of teeth varies according to diet, as illustrated below:
Man (omnivore): Has a balanced set of incisors (cutting), canines (tearing), and premolars and
molars (grinding), suited to a mixed diet of plant and animal matter.
Dog (carnivore): Has sharp, pointed canines for killing and tearing flesh, and carnassial teeth
(modified premolars and molars) for shearing meat, with a reduced grinding surface.
Rabbit (herbivore): Has no canines, leaving a gap called the diastema; well-developed,
continuously growing incisors for gnawing plant material; and broad molars with ridged surfaces
for grinding fibrous vegetation.
Practical Activities
• Use specimens and charts of the digestive systems of the housefly, butterfly, cockroach,
tapeworm, sheep, or dog to illustrate the different feeding mechanisms discussed above.
• Students should carefully observe the provided specimens, noting and recording the
specific structural modifications (mouthparts, teeth, gut length, etc.) that suit each animal
to its particular feeding habit.