this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] Hegar@fedia.io 41 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's probably a gut microbe thing that aids in processing food more efficiently, right? Koalas eat their own shit as well - I think their mothers even feed them shit, iirc. I think it's not uncommon among herbivores.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 year ago (3 children)

They have two kinds of poop: the little cocoa pebble ones, and soft wet ones that look like grape clusters, called cecotropes. The cecotropes are partly digested, and they eat them to extract more nutrients the second go round.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah, fascinating! We had a bunny growing up and I always remember her eating the little pebbly poop, but I'm probably just remembering wrong.

[–] kamenlady@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Some can't get enough and want it all

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So it's like chewing cud, except it's multiple passes of the same stomach instead of different stomachs.

[–] MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They don't have the mass to have multiple stomachs like a proper cow

[–] Comment105@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I always knew shit eating grins were misunderstood. They were just happy about being efficient.

[–] DeathsEmbrace@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

You could say they were coprophappygia?

Yes and no. Chewing cud only involves the first stomach for cows, since they just need to regurgitate it. It doesn't pass to the later stomachs until the grass is sufficiently broken down

[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

A fact well known to everyone who read Watership Down as a child.

[–] mormund@feddit.org 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yup. Guinea pigs also need to eat their own poop for normal digestion.

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago

The koala thing is slightly different, at birth they can't digest eucalyptus leaves. The necessary gut bacteria is passed down from mother to child through coprophagy.

Bunnies and guinea pigs just eat their poop to ensure complete digestion.

[–] hazl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] dalekcaan@lemm.ee 20 points 1 year ago

You may not like the format, that's fine, but I would like to point out it was used correctly in this meme.

[–] lemmie689@lemmy.sdf.org 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In case anyone else was wondering too.

Even though it’s a fact that rabbits can eat their own poop, that really shouldn’t be a sign that you should follow suit (even if it was for your survival). Eating rabbit droppings has no nutritional value for humans.

https://rabbitinsider.com/can-you-eat-rabbit-poop/

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, duh. The rabbit isn't eating another animals poop, but their own. Sooo...

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Now that's a blast from the pissed!

[–] skooma_king@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My beagles make up for it (…yuck)

My chihuahuas also love rabbit poop

[–] lnxtx@feddit.nl 11 points 1 year ago

Nesquik cereal looks too real ~fuck~ ~Nestle~

[–] wise_pancake@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is the kind of thing a rabbit that eats its own faeces would say

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Umm, what if we were to hypothetically convince the manosphere that this is the most manly thing that can be possibly achieved

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

Fun fact: at birth koalas can't actually digest eucalyptus leaves on their own. They eat their mum's faeces to gain the necessary gut bacteria.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I look forward to never having to read about these kinds of studies again once all of the funding disappears.

I hope I don't need the /s

[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

They are more similar to us than many anticipate