Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: Pseudoscience-is-malarkey on 18/01/2023 13:23:45
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Some years back my dog got his meat hooks on a duck bone that I was using for a stew. He crunched, ate, and swallowed it in seconds. I freaked out thinking he was going to either choke on it or get his trachea or stomach cut and die from exsanguination. I called animal emergency services and the operator told me he'll be fine. My father was still alive at the time and he was his dog and I can only imagine if I had to tell him his Charlie-boy was dead and I played a part in it.
Have carnivorous animals evolved into having stronger throats, stomaches, et cetera than humans? I then kind of realized that animals, especially carnivores, are impulsive eaters, that don't pull the bones out of the meat they eat. If bones were harmful, they would have died out before they could evolve, effectively qualifying for the tongue-in-cheek Darwin Award.
I tried "Googeling" this question, but it is too hard to formulate it into something the internet AI can understand.
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It is often said that a dog's mouth is an extremely strong hand. When they aren't cleaning their genitals or picking up puppies, they crush bone fragments into really tiny bits,using their tongues to reorientate any splinters or sharp edges to re-mill them, then wash the bits down with plenty of slobber.
A couple of biologists assure me that the stomachs of most carnivores and scavengers operate at a pH around 1, so crushed phosphates and carbonates get turned into soluble minerals and farts very quickly.
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Hyenas are renowned for their ability to crunch bones (ie anything left after the lions have finished with their prey).
Some ancient species are thought to have been strong enough to crunch elephant bones...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyena#Bone-crushing_hyenas