A gastrolith, also called a stomach stone or gizzard stone, is a rock held inside a gastrointestinal tract. Gastroliths in some species are retained in the muscular gizzard and used to grind food in animals lacking suitable grinding teeth .

Gastroliths, or gizzard stones, are small rocks kept by an animal inside its stomach or at an early part of the alimentary canal. The function of these is to mash up the food so digestion takes place faster. Typically, animals which do this do not have suitable teeth for grinding, and the gastroliths are a good substitute for this.

2024年3月19日 · Gastroliths are nature’s tiniest rock collection, but instead of sitting on a shelf, these stones travel inside the stomachs of animals. They’re not your average pebble picked up on a riverside stroll but a chosen tool for creatures like birds, alligators and even dinosaurs to assist in their digestion.

2024年5月27日 · Gastroliths, or "stomach stones," are used by animals such as birds and reptiles to aid in the digestion of tough plant materials by grinding food in their gizzards.

Gastroliths are fossilized gizzard stones and are usually only applicable in the fossil study of reptiles. These stones, which are found in the gizzard of the organism, help to grind food to pieces as the stomach muscle (gizzard) squeezes to and fro.

Rocks that have been in the digestive system of an animal are called gastroliths, which literally means "stomach stones." Any kind of rock can become a gastrolith — all it has to do is be swallowed by something.

The meaning of GASTROLITH is a stone or pebble ingested by an animal and functioning to grind food in gastric digestion.

2011年1月30日 · Gastroliths are rounded rocks that, for whatever reason, end up in an animal’s digestive tract. Why would an animal swallow a rock? Two reasons come to mind: (1) Accidental ingestion, in which a rock that was too close to some food and went along for the ride.

A gastrolith, also called a stomach stone or gizzard stones, is a rock held inside a gastrointestinal tract. Gastroliths are retained in the muscular gizzard and used to grind food in animals lacking suitable grinding teeth.

bolus, food that has been chewed and mixed in the mouth with saliva. Chewing helps to reduce food particles to a size readily swallowed; saliva adds digestive enzymes, water, and mucus that help chemically to reduce food particles, hydrate them …