Confusing digestion question..

I have been told in lectures that the only creatures who have digestive enzymes in their glands are humans and pigs, but I have a book (Rabbit lopaedia) which states that bunnies have 4 pairs of glands, each producing both amylase and galactosidase
I'm so confused and don't know which to believe :?

And also, I'm presuming that the other enzymes used for digestion are produced in the pancreas? I don't know :?

Does anyone know the truth? :shock:

Anybun? Anybun at all? :?

:lol:

It's a very interesting question you've asked! Way over my Biology 101 knowledge. :lol:

But just to throw a thought in, don't all animals produce digestive enzymes through their salivary glands?

The pancreas counts as a "glandular organ", and I think many animals have a pancreas, apart from pigs and humans. :?

sidereus7 said:

It's a very interesting question you've asked! Way over my Biology 101 knowledge. :lol:

But just to throw a thought in, don't all animals produce digestive enzymes through their salivary glands?

The pancreas counts as a "glandular organ", and I think many animals have a pancreas, apart from pigs and humans. :?

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The book I'm quoting from says that rabbits have 4 pairs of salivary glands, all of which produce the digestive enzymes.. I'm just so confused by it all :?

Don't we as humans have an appendix instead of a pancreas?:?

but thank you for replying

MedicatedFluffball said:

The book I'm quoting from says that rabbits have 4 pairs of salivary glands, all of which produce the digestive enzymes.. I'm just so confused by it all :?

Don't we as humans have an appendix instead of a pancreas?:?

but thank you for replying

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Humans do have a pancreas, and I found this brief summary of what it does:

The pancreas produces chemicals that are crucial to proper digestion and blood sugar regulation. It is an abdominal gland, and is situated in the abdominal cavity, behind the stomach, close to the duodenum with its head pointed toward the small intestine. Both the exocrine and endocrine systems utilize this organ. Our body's endocrine system regulates hormones and other substances through its direct access to the bloodstream, cells, and organs. The exocrine system works via ducts to digest food in the intestinal tract.

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The appendix in humans is basically useless. There are theories that it used to be for breaking down things that are harder to digest, and almost functioned like a cecum for humans. :shock:

Don't rely on what I say 100% but this is what I think:

Humans definitely have a pancreas. The pancreas is a gland which produces enzymes, hormones and other molecules. Amylase is one of the enzymes.

From what I've been taught at uni and looking through a few books this is what I understand:

- Ruminants are the only animals that don't contain amylase in their saliva.

- The salivary glands of rabbits produce some amylase (I don't know if all the glands produce amylase or if only some of the major salivary glands do). The pancreas of the rabbit also produces some amylase. So some digestion may begin to occur before the food reaches the stomach but most occurs in the stomach, intestines and caecum. This link to a rabbit text has more info. I think amylase (and any of the other digestive enzymes rabbits produce) in general aren't supposed to play a large part in rabbit digestion. Rabbits should have a high fibre diet and fibre is predominantly broken down by microbial fermentation in the caecum. The microbes are what produce the necessary enzymes to break down cellulose.

Hope this helps rather than confuses!