this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2025
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Science Memes

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top 34 comments
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[–] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 34 points 2 weeks ago

It's called the double digestion diet, and it can halve your food bills!

[–] SGforce@lemmy.ca 20 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Apparently gorillas too. Someone should tell Joe Roegan.

[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago

Scat fetish among the right to explode in 3...

[–] Sendpicsofsandwiches@sh.itjust.works 17 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 31 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I think OP is implying we should eat shit.

[–] ClipperDefiance@lemmy.world 43 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

That's basically what rabbits do. From Wikipedia:

Easily digestible food is processed in the gastrointestinal tract and expelled as regular feces. To get nutrients out of hard to digest fiber, rabbits ferment fiber in the cecum (part of the gastrointestinal tract) and then expel the contents as cecotropes, which are reingested (cecotrophy or refection). The cecotropes are then absorbed in the small intestine to use the nutrients. Soft cecotropes are usually consumed during periods of rest in underground burrows.

[–] SippyCup@feddit.nl 13 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Humans may be unique among mammals for not eating our own shit, the shit of others, or just any random shit we find.

[–] NABDad@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Guinea pigs too.

You'll be holding the piggie, and she'll curl up and grab a fresh turd right from the source and chomp that up.

[–] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I've always wondered if the people who keep pet rabbits and teach them to use litter boxes are hurting the bunnies by preventing them from doing this. Or will the rabbits just eat clay-covered cecotropes?

[–] call_me_xale@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Bunny owner here, I can answer this!

Rabbits produce two kinds of feces: normal "waste" feces and edible "cecotropes" or "cecal pellets". They generally eat the cecotropes immediately after excreting them, and only drop the waste into their litterboxes.

[–] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 weeks ago

One would assume by feel during excretion...

[–] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Do they deposit the cecal pellets in the litterboxes, or do they just do them any where they please and immediately munch on em?

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

They deposit them directly into their mouth. They know when they’re about to produce one and they reach down there with their mouth and consume it directly.

If you think about where wild rabbits spend most of their time (underground in burrows surrounded by dirt) this makes total sense. By not allowing cecotropes to touch the ground, they avoid contamination with soil-borne pathogens.

[–] bacon_saber@fedia.io 6 points 2 weeks ago

Rabbits definitely should

[–] leaky_shower_thought@feddit.nl 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

marvel universe creative writers: "write this down!"

[–] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Man Bun™ was created when a regular rabbit ate a radioactive turd. Now he can anthropomorphize at will, leap tall buildings in a single sproing, be super jacked, and destroy his enemies with Mach-5 poops.

[–] leaky_shower_thought@feddit.nl 3 points 2 weeks ago

"Man Bun", even the name is promising~!

can he be jacked and fluffy at the same time?

[–] Geodad@lemm.ee 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Cecotropes because they have an inefficient digestive system. It's basically the rodent equivalent of a cow chewing cud.

[–] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's very efficient. Stuff just needs to go through twice. Saves a lot of space.

[–] Geodad@lemm.ee 4 points 2 weeks ago

Not a bunny, but this guy eats them too.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Think about it this way: they’ve evolved a clever behavioural hack that doubles the length of their entire digestive tract without any increase in weight. This is extremely efficient!

[–] Geodad@lemm.ee 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Having to eat your food twice doesn't sound very efficient to me.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It’s extremely efficient given the low calorie density, high fibre diet and extremely limited grazing time (dawn and dusk) of crepuscular rabbits.

Think about ruminants for comparison. They spend all day every day grazing on the same kinds of foods as rabbits. Rabbits have a much more rapid metabolism (faster resting heart rate and ridiculous athletic ability) than, say cattle, yet they manage to extract more energy in less time eating. Rabbits are a marvel of efficiency!

[–] Geodad@lemm.ee 2 points 2 weeks ago

Well, that's a perspective that I hadn't considered. Thanks!

[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 8 points 2 weeks ago

Please make sure that weirdo RFK Jr hears about this "new" diet.

[–] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 6 points 2 weeks ago

don't believe him, he's just talking shit

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 3 points 2 weeks ago

It's chocolate because of Easter, shut up

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago

That took me 5 seconds then I lost it.

[–] h3mlocke@lemm.ee 1 points 2 weeks ago

This meme makes me wanna start doing jenkem again...