Coprophagy: which term describes the practice of eating night feces to recover nutrients?

Coprophagy: which term describes the practice of eating night feces to recover nutrients?

• A. Cecotrophy
• B. Coprophagy
• C. Heterotrophy
• D. Coprimation

Answer: (B)

Cecotrophy is the term for eating cecotropes, the nutrient-rich fecal pellets produced in the cecum and typically consumed at night to reclaim nutrients that weren’t absorbed the first time. This is a specialized form of coprophagy, focusing on the re-ingestion of these soft, mucus-coated pellets to recover vitamins, amino acids, and microbial protein. Coprophagy, in general, means eating feces, but it doesn’t specify the nutrient-recovery process via cecotropes. Heterotrophy is a broad metabolic category about obtaining energy from organic matter, not this specific behavior, and coprimation isn’t the term for this practice.

Cecotrophy is the term for eating cecotropes, the nutrient-rich fecal pellets produced in the cecum and typically consumed at night to reclaim nutrients that weren’t absorbed the first time. This is a specialized form of coprophagy, focusing on the re-ingestion of these soft, mucus-coated pellets to recover vitamins, amino acids, and microbial protein. Coprophagy, in general, means eating feces, but it doesn’t specify the nutrient-recovery process via cecotropes. Heterotrophy is a broad metabolic category about obtaining energy from organic matter, not this specific behavior, and coprimation isn’t the term for this practice.