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  1. Naked Science Forum
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  3. Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution
  4. Do animals other than mammals fart?
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Do animals other than mammals fart?

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Offline John Chapman (OP)

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« on: 10/07/2009 02:06:20 »
Lisa Minnelli once famously said “It’s so quite you could hear a fish fart”. Many fish are algae and plant feeders. So do they fart? And seed eating birds and leaf munching insects must eat a lot of fibre too. Do they fart?

And what about bacteria? They produce the methane in mammals' farts so how is the gas formed. Is the plant matter taken into the cell and the methane expelled as little bubbles?

« Last Edit: 10/07/2009 02:08:04 by John Chapman »
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Offline Chemistry4me

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #1 on: 10/07/2009 02:51:14 »
Quote from: John Chapman on 10/07/2009 02:06:20
And seed eating birds and leaf munching insects must eat a lot of fibre too. Do they fart?

Quote
Gases erupting from any point in mammalian intestines can build up before they reach the end, and are going to pass through a bunch of malodorous stuff along the way, picking up additional odors. Birds get rid of any gases as quickly as they do the other material in their guts, and so there really isn't time for huge buildups...But the short answer is an almost definite no, birds do not fart. Farts are, by definition, noticeable eruptions of significant volumes of intestinal gas.

http://lauraerickson.blogspot.com/2007/04/question-of-day-do-birds-fart.html

Quote
Mike Murray, a veterinarian at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, has this to say: “It’s not that they can’t. They just don’t need to. Birds have the anatomical and physical ability to pass gas, but if I saw gas in a bird’s gastrointestinal tract on an x-ray, I’d suspect that something abnormal was going on in there.”

http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/2009/06/30/do-birds-fart/
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Offline Chemistry4me

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #2 on: 10/07/2009 02:58:50 »
Quote from: John Chapman on 10/07/2009 02:06:20
Many fish are algae and plant feeders. So do they fart?
Well there was this thread http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=1116.0 but all the links appear to be broken.
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Offline Chemistry4me

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #3 on: 10/07/2009 03:03:48 »
Quote from: John Chapman on 10/07/2009 02:06:20
And what about bacteria? They produce the methane in mammals' farts so how is the gas formed. Is the plant matter taken into the cell and the methane expelled as little bubbles?
That'll depend on what your definition of 'fart' is!  [xx(]
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Offline John Chapman (OP)

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #4 on: 10/07/2009 21:51:50 »
Thanks Chem4me

Excellent research as always.

To summarize the opinions in your links they seem to be saying

a) Birds - produce gas but quickly expel it before enough accumulates to produce a real fart. More of a general seepage than regular guffs.

b) Fish DO sometimes fart and, according to Chris Smith, may actually use this as a method of communication

Quote from: transcript of The Naked Scientist - 18 Jan 2004.

Dr. Doolittle may have been able to talk with the animals, but could he fart with them too ? That's what he may have had to do if he wanted to chat with a herring. Researchers at Canada's Bamfield Marine Science Centre have discovered that herring make noises by expelling air out of their anal duct from their gut or swimbladder. They've called it Fast Repetitive Tick (FaRT for short) and conclude that it may have a social function since herring seem to do it more when they are hanging out in big groups. But herring aren't the only animals with meaningful farts. 2 species of snake in North America use flatulence to ward off potential predators!


Does anybody know how bacteria produce the gases that we all expel? Does it form inside or outside of the bacteria cell?
 
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Offline JnA

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #5 on: 11/07/2009 01:24:10 »
Termites are the largest producers of methane...


or so I've heard.
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Offline Don_1

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #6 on: 13/07/2009 07:53:42 »
Quote from: JnA on 11/07/2009 01:24:10
Termites are the largest producers of methane...


or so I've heard.

Strewth! You've got good hearing, what does a termite fart sound like?
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If brains were made of dynamite, I wouldn't have enough to blow my nose.
 

Offline tangoblue

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #7 on: 31/07/2009 22:25:00 »
why wouldn't other mannals fart?
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Offline Chemistry4me

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #8 on: 01/08/2009 04:10:55 »
The question was:

Do animals other than mammals fart?
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Offline tangoblue

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #9 on: 30/07/2010 22:57:22 »
Sorry i'm such an idiot. not only did i misread the question but i typed mannals instead of mammals
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Offline tommya300

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #10 on: 31/07/2010 00:26:41 »
Quote from: John Chapman on 10/07/2009 21:51:50
Thanks Chem4me

Excellent research as always.

To summarize the opinions in your links they seem to be saying

a) Birds - produce gas but quickly expel it before enough accumulates to produce a real fart. More of a general seepage than regular guffs.

b) Fish DO sometimes fart and, according to Chris Smith, may actually use this as a method of communication

Quote from: transcript of The Naked Scientist - 18 Jan 2004.

Dr. Doolittle may have been able to talk with the animals, but could he fart with them too ? That's what he may have had to do if he wanted to chat with a herring. Researchers at Canada's Bamfield Marine Science Centre have discovered that herring make noises by expelling air out of their anal duct from their gut or swimbladder. They've called it Fast Repetitive Tick (FaRT for short) and conclude that it may have a social function since herring seem to do it more when they are hanging out in big groups. But herring aren't the only animals with meaningful farts. 2 species of snake in North America use flatulence to ward off potential predators!


Does anybody know how bacteria produce the gases that we all expel? Does it form inside or outside of the bacteria cell?
 

Hey Mr Fish, your voice has changed but your breath is still the same.

Excuuuse me, I could not PAaass this up, Aaaah! The dog walked by the dinner table, farted, walked away and everyone looked at me

All kidding aside That is interesting!

 I think that, not all mammals can fart or burp.
 
« Last Edit: 31/07/2010 00:31:05 by tommya300 »
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Offline tangoblue

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #11 on: 08/08/2010 13:02:03 »
Well i guess bacteria produce gas inside the cell and it is excreted by exocytosis. Like i say, just a guess though.
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Offline tangoblue

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Do animals other than mammals fart?
« Reply #12 on: 08/08/2010 19:34:26 »
Or it might be endocytisis, i can't remember.
how exctly did i get a good grade in h biology?
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