Nutrition
The Major Organs of the Digestive System
The major organs of the digestive system allow the Northern Flying Squirrel to digest its food with maximum efficiency and convert this food into energy and basic nutrients to feed the entire body, but how does it work? Let's find out.
Mouth
Food begins its journey through the digestive system in the mouth, which is also known as the oral cavity. Inside the mouth there are many accessory organs such as the tongue, teeth and salivary glands that aid in the digestion of the organism's food. The teeth, or incisors, chop the food up into smaller pieces, and are partially dissolved by the enzymes in the animal's saliva before the tongue and other muscles push the food into the pharynx.
Esophagus
The esophagus is a muscular tube carrying swallowed masses of chewed food from the
pharynx to the stomach and acts as one of the major organs of the digestive system. At the lower end of the esophagus is a muscular ring called the lower esophageal sphincter, a.k.a.
the cardiac sphincter. The purpose of this sphincter is to close off the end of the esophagus
so it be needed and contain food in the stomach.
Stomach
The stomach is a major organ of the digestive system that looks like a muscular sac located
on the left side of the abdominal cavity, close to the diaphragm. The stomach acts as a
storage area for food giving the body the time to digest food properly and extract all the
possible nutrients from said food. The stomach of the Northern Flying Squirrel also contains hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes that continues the process that the mouth started, further digesting the food.
Small Intestine
The small intestine is a long, thin tube that is part of the lower gastrointestinal tract and is also a major organ of the digestive system. It is located just below the stomach and takes up most of the organism's space in the abdominal cavity. The entire small intestine is coiled around like a hose and the surface is full of many ridges and folds, maximizing the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. The small intestine performs most of the digestion process, as around 90% of all possible nutrients have been extracted from the food by the time that it leaves the small intestine.
Liver
Although the liver isn't strictly a major organ of the digestive system, it performs many different processes and functions to support and help the process of digestion, with the main operation of the liver being to produce bile and its secretion into the small intestine.
Gallbladder
The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located somewhere in the proximity of the liver. The gallbladder is used to store and recycle the excess bile from the small intestine so that it can be reused at a later time.
Pancreas
The pancreas is a large gland located near the stomach that plays a minor role in the digestive system. It is used to secrete digestive enzymes into the small intestine, assisting in the chemical digestion of the food.
Large Intestine
The large intestine is a long, thick tube located near the stomach and wraps around the small intestine. The large intestine's purpose is to absorb water and contain many different types of bacteria that may aid in the breaking down of wastes and consequently extract small amounts of nutrients from the faeces, which exit the organism's body through its anal canal.
The major organs of the digestive system allow the Northern Flying Squirrel to digest its food with maximum efficiency and convert this food into energy and basic nutrients to feed the entire body, but how does it work? Let's find out.
Mouth
Food begins its journey through the digestive system in the mouth, which is also known as the oral cavity. Inside the mouth there are many accessory organs such as the tongue, teeth and salivary glands that aid in the digestion of the organism's food. The teeth, or incisors, chop the food up into smaller pieces, and are partially dissolved by the enzymes in the animal's saliva before the tongue and other muscles push the food into the pharynx.
Esophagus
The esophagus is a muscular tube carrying swallowed masses of chewed food from the
pharynx to the stomach and acts as one of the major organs of the digestive system. At the lower end of the esophagus is a muscular ring called the lower esophageal sphincter, a.k.a.
the cardiac sphincter. The purpose of this sphincter is to close off the end of the esophagus
so it be needed and contain food in the stomach.
Stomach
The stomach is a major organ of the digestive system that looks like a muscular sac located
on the left side of the abdominal cavity, close to the diaphragm. The stomach acts as a
storage area for food giving the body the time to digest food properly and extract all the
possible nutrients from said food. The stomach of the Northern Flying Squirrel also contains hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes that continues the process that the mouth started, further digesting the food.
Small Intestine
The small intestine is a long, thin tube that is part of the lower gastrointestinal tract and is also a major organ of the digestive system. It is located just below the stomach and takes up most of the organism's space in the abdominal cavity. The entire small intestine is coiled around like a hose and the surface is full of many ridges and folds, maximizing the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. The small intestine performs most of the digestion process, as around 90% of all possible nutrients have been extracted from the food by the time that it leaves the small intestine.
Liver
Although the liver isn't strictly a major organ of the digestive system, it performs many different processes and functions to support and help the process of digestion, with the main operation of the liver being to produce bile and its secretion into the small intestine.
Gallbladder
The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located somewhere in the proximity of the liver. The gallbladder is used to store and recycle the excess bile from the small intestine so that it can be reused at a later time.
Pancreas
The pancreas is a large gland located near the stomach that plays a minor role in the digestive system. It is used to secrete digestive enzymes into the small intestine, assisting in the chemical digestion of the food.
Large Intestine
The large intestine is a long, thick tube located near the stomach and wraps around the small intestine. The large intestine's purpose is to absorb water and contain many different types of bacteria that may aid in the breaking down of wastes and consequently extract small amounts of nutrients from the faeces, which exit the organism's body through its anal canal.
What does it eat?
A Northern Flying Squirrel's diet consists primarily of a wide variety of plants, including nuts, seeds, conifer cones, fruits, fungi and most green vegetation. However, some squirrels are known to also consume meat
when faced with starvation, such as insects, eggs, small birds, young snakes and smaller rodents. This makes the Northern Flying Squirrel an omnivore, as it eats both meat and vegetation; however, some squirrels of this species (especially in tropical climates) tend to sustain themselves almost entirely on a diet of insects, making them an exception to this rule.
A Northern Flying Squirrel's diet consists primarily of a wide variety of plants, including nuts, seeds, conifer cones, fruits, fungi and most green vegetation. However, some squirrels are known to also consume meat
when faced with starvation, such as insects, eggs, small birds, young snakes and smaller rodents. This makes the Northern Flying Squirrel an omnivore, as it eats both meat and vegetation; however, some squirrels of this species (especially in tropical climates) tend to sustain themselves almost entirely on a diet of insects, making them an exception to this rule.
The Food Web
The food web above shows the feeding relationships of the Northern Flying Squirrel, with the organism itself being classified (as with all types of squirrels) as a first-order consumer. This means that the Northern Flying Squirrel eats the producer, which in this case is green vegetation and plants, but also falls prey to the second-order consumer/s, or carnivore/s, which eats the organisms situated below it on the food web.