[Campbell Biology P.963] Which of the following statements most accurately describes a uniqu... | Practice Question

Which of the following statements most accurately describes a unique adaptation for herbivory involving mutualistic microorganisms, as detailed in the provided text?

  • A: Termites, like ruminants, house mutualistic bacteria primarily in a large cecum for cellulose digestion.
  • B: Rabbits and rodents compensate for limited nutrient absorption in the small intestine by recovering nutrients from feces through coprophagy.
  • C: Horses and koalas utilize a muscular crop for grinding plant leaves and housing microorganisms.
  • D: Giant tubeworms rely on chemosynthetic bacteria living externally on their bodies to obtain all their energy and nutrients.

Explanation

The text highlights various adaptations for herbivory involving mutualistic microorganisms. Option B accurately describes coprophagy in rabbits and rodents, a unique mechanism to recover nutrients from fermentation by-products that are initially lost in feces. Other options contain inaccuracies: termites' fermentation chambers are not explicitly called large ceca like ruminants; the muscular crop is characteristic of the hoatzin, not horses or koalas; and tubeworms' bacteria live within their bodies, not externally.