DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
1. Suspension Feeders – a type of
 Digestion – physical as well as chemical
process to change food from insoluble to
soluble form
- food change to liquid form to
facilitate transport by the blood
 Animal Nutrition – all animals are
heterotrophs; they consume organic
molecules from other organisms
3 Dietary Categories of Heterotrophs:
1. Herbivores – plant eating animals
2. Carnivores – flesh eating animals
3. Omnivores – eat both plants and
meat
Types of Heterotrophs:
1. Detritivores – detritus feeders;
heterotrophs that obtain nutrients
from decaying bodies of animals
called detritus
Ex. earthworms
2. Scavengers – eat large chunk of
organic matter
Ex. vulture
3. Saprophagous – organisms that feed
on decaying matter
2 Types of Digestion:
1. Intracellular Digestion – a form of
digestion which takes place within the
cytoplasm of the organism
2. Extracellular Digestion – is a process in
which animals feed by secreting enzymes
through the cell membrane on to the
food
 Feeding – manner of how animals take
their food
Feeding Mechanisms:
feeding mechanism where animal
body parts use to move towards a
feeding structure to sift through the
food suspended on H2O
Ex. plume worms
2. Filter Feeders – food particles are
extracted and suspended on surface
water and sieve it to various filtering
structures
Ex. whale
3. Substrate Feeders – the food is eaten
through the soil while digesting and
excreting food as the animal crawl
Ex. earthworms
4. Fluid Feeders – ingest food by sucking
nutrient rich fluid living host
Ex. mosquito
5. Bulk Feeders – ingest large pieces of
food into their mouth
Ex. most animals
 Incomplete Digestive Tract – with only 1
opening which serves as both entrance
and exit (no anus)
 Complete Digestive Tract – 2 opening
with mouth for entrance and anus for exit
INVERTEBRATES DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 Protozoa – provided an organelle called
food vacuole which serves as an organ of
digestion
a) Intracellular digestion
b) Heterotroph Nutrition
(Cytosome > Cytopharynx >
Cythophage)
 Porifera – with shizocoel and
choanocytes (collar cells) serves as
digestive organs
a) Intracellular digestion
 Cnidaria – possesses gastrovascular
cavity or gastrodermis which serves as an
incomplete digestive tract
Mode:
a) Extracellular – takes place at the
vascular cavity
b) Intracellular – takes place at the
food vacuole of the gastrodermis
*Hypostome – serves as both mouth and
anus
 Platyhelminthes – has incomplete
branched digestive tube except for
tapeworms which has no digestive tube
*digestion is extracellular
 Nematoda (Roundworms) – complete
digestive tube
*digestion is extracellular
*They have styles or stomatostyle –
hard sharp structure used for primitive
piercing mouthparts
*Stomadeum – located in the anterior
part of the digestive tract
 Annelida – complex digestive tract
consists of a series of compartment with
specific role in the breakdown of food
a) Mouth – with prostomium (used
for grasping food)
b) Pharynx – muscular structure
which facilitates sucking of food
c) Esophagus – calciferous glands
which secretes calcium
carbonate, making the food
alkaline
d) Prop (modified
esophagus/expanded portion) –
serves as temporary storage of
food
e) Gizzard – structure is very
muscular which through its
grinding motion reduces the food
into smaller bits
f) Intestine – place where digestion
and absorption of food takes
place
 Mollusca – complete digestive tube and
in some, the mouth with radula (teeth
that rasp off food particles)
 Arthropods – gut is tubular and extended
from mouth to anus
*possesses labium which is homologous
to mouth and is used for feeding
 Echinoderms – possesses water vascular
cavity which is used for locomotion and
transport of food
VERTEBRATES DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 Monogastric – single stomach that
secretes enzymes to break down food
into smaller particles (most animals)
 Avian – composed of mouth in the form
of beak or crop
*has 2 chambered stomach
a) Proventriculus – contain gastric
gland
b) Ventriculus/Gizzard – grinding
c) Ruminants – group of herbivores
with 4 chambered stomach
1) Rumen – able to digest
cellulose
*for fermentation
*temporary storage of
food
2) Reticulum – holding area
3) Omasum – grinds food
particles
4) Abomasum – serves as
true stomach
Ex. cows, carabaos
d) Pseudo ruminants – similar to
ruminants but they only have 3
chambered stomach
*no rumen
*Cloaca – posterior part of digestive tube
Ex. sharks,
amphibians, reptiles, birds
 ANIMAL DENTITION  Assimilation
- how teeth of an animal are arranged and  Egestion – discharge or expulsion of
its morphology undigested food

6 Types: Composed of 3 divisions:

1. Homodont – teeth are the same 1. D.I. Gut / Alimentary Canal
type a) Mouth – bounded by the lips
2. Heterodont – teeth differ and cheeks
morphologically b) Pharynx (throat) – connects
3. Diphyodont – 2 successions of teeth the mouth with the
(deciduous, permanent) esophagus
4. Monophyodont – only 1 set of teeth c) Esophagus – muscular tube
throughout their life lined with moist stratified
5. Polyphyodont – teeth are squamous epithelium that
continuously discarded and replaced extends from the pharynx to
throughout life the stomach
6. Thecodont – animals which teeth *transports food
are set in sockets in jawbones *Esophageal sphincters /
cardiac sphincters – regulate
Dental Formula: the movement of the food in
(𝒅𝒊𝟐 −𝒅𝒄𝟏 −𝒅𝒎𝟐 ) and out of the esophagus;
1. Deciduous – (𝒅𝒊 × 𝟐 = 𝟐𝟎
𝟐 −𝒅𝒄𝟏 −𝒅𝒎𝟐 )
upper and lower
𝟐 −𝑪𝟏 −𝑷𝟐 −𝑴𝟑 ) *Bolus – mass of food
2. Permanent - (𝑰(𝑰 × 𝟐 = 𝟑𝟐
𝟐 −𝑪𝟏 −𝑷𝟐 −𝑴𝟑 ) d) Stomach
*Gastroesophageal opening
HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM – opening from the
esophagus to the stomach
 Mastication – act of chewing *Cardiac region – region of
 Deglutition – act of swallowing the stomach around the
 Gustation – act of tasting gastroesophageal opening;
near the heart
*Chyme – digested food in the stomach *Fundus – most superior
with enzymes part of the stomach
*Vomit – bumalik na chyme *Body – largest part which
turns to the right that forms
Includes several interrelated processes: greater curvature on the left
and lesser curvature on the
 Ingestion – process of taking in food right
 Digestion – breaking down of food *Pyloric opening – opening
a) Physical – mastication from the stomach into the
b) Chemical – enzymes small intestine; surrounded
 Absorption – nutrients are absorbed in by smooth muscle pyloric
the small intestine sphincter
 Circulation
 *Pyloric region – region of
the stomach near the pyloric
opening
*Rugae – large folds in the
stomach where the
submucosa and mucosa are
thrown
e) Small Intestine – 6 meters
long
3 Parts:
1. Duodenum – about
25cm long
2. Jejunum about 2.5m
long and makes up
2/5 of the total length
of the small intestine
3. Ileum – about 3.5m
long and makes up
3/5 of the small
intestine
*Villi – tiny, finger-like
projections of the mucosa
*Microvilli – cytoplasmic
extensions in the villi
f) Large Intestine
*Cecum – proximal end of
the large intestine where it
joins the small intestine at
the ileocecal junction
*Ascending Colon – extends
superiorly from the cecum to
the right colic flexure; near
the liver, where it turns to
the left
*Transverse Colon – extends
from the right colic flexure to
the left colic flexure; near the
spleen, where the colon
turns inferiorly
*Descending Colon –
extends from the left colic
flexure to the pelvis, where it
becomes the sigmoid colon
*Rectum – straight muscular
tube that begins at the
termination of the sigmoid
colon and ends at the anal
canal
g) Anus – the opening at the
end of the alimentary canal
through which solid waste
matter leaves the body
2. Digestive Gland
a) Salivary Gland – produce
saliva which is a mixture of
serous (watery) and mucous
fluids
*Parotid Gland – largest;
serous gland located just
anterior to each ear, enters
the oral cavity adjacent to
the second upper molars;
stensen duct
*Submandibular Gland –
produce more serous than
mucous secretions; can be
felt as soft lump along the
inferior border of the
mandible; opens into the oral
cavity on each side of the
frenulum of the tongue;
whartons duct
*Sublingual Gland –
smallest; produce primarily
mucous secretions; lies
immediately below the
mucous membrane in the
floor of the oral cavity;
bartholins duct
b) Liver
c) Pancreas
d) Gastric Gland
e) Intestinal Gland
3. Accessory Parts
a) Lips – muscular structure
formed mostly by the
orbicularis oris muscle
b) Tongue – large, muscular
organ that occupies most of
the oral cavity
*Frenulum – anterior
attachment of the tongue to
the floor of the mouth
*Anterior 2/3 of the tongue
– covered by papillae, some
contain taste buds
*Posterior 1/3 of the tongue
– no papillae and has only
few scattered taste buds
c) Teeth
*Deciduous / Primary teeth
– 20 teeth; milk or baby teeth
lost during childhood
*Permanent / Secondary
teeth – 32 teeth; adult teeth;
most of them are
replacements of the primary
teeth
*4 Quadrants: right upper,
left upper, right lower, left
lower
*In each quadrant: 1 central
and lateral incisor; 1 canine;
1st and 2nd premolars; 1st, 2nd,
and 3rd molars (3rd molars are
called wisdom teeth)
Parts of a tooth:
1. Crown – each tooth
contains 1; with 1 or
more cusps (points),
neck, root
2. Pulp Cavity – center
of the tooth which is
filled with blood
vessels, nerves, and
connective tissues
called pulp
3. Dentin – living,
cellular, bone-like
tissue that surrounds
the pulp cavity
4. Enamel – extremely
hard, acellular
substance that covers
the dentin of the
tooth crown; protects
the tooth against
abrasion and acids
produced by bacteria
in the mouth
5. Cementum – covers
the surface of the
dentin in the root;
helps anchor the
tooth in the jaw
6. Gingiva (gums) –
dense fibrous
connective tissue and
moist stratified
squamous epithelium
7. Periodontal
ligaments – holds the
teeth in place
DISEASES IN THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 Peritonitis – potentially life-threatening
inflammation of the peritoneal
membranes
 Dental caries / Tooth decay – result of
the breakdown of enamel by acids
produced by bacteria on the tooth
surface
 Periodontal disease – inflammation and
degeneration of the periodontal
ligaments, gingiva, and alveolar bone
 Tonsillitis – inflammation of the tonsils
 Mumps inflammation of the parotid
gland caused by viral infection
 Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis – common
defect of the stomach in infants
 Peptic Ulcer – caused when gastric juices
(acid and pepsin) digest the mucosal
lining of the digestive tract caused by
Helicobacter pylori
 Heartburn (gastritis) – a painful burning
sensation in the chest
 Appendicitis – inflammation of the
appendix; usually occurs due to
obstructions
 Gluten Enteropathy (Celiac disease) –
malabsorption in the small intestine due
to the effects of gluten
 Constipation – slow movement of feces
in the large intestine
 Food poisoning – caused by ingesting
bacteria
 Typhoid Fever – caused by virulent strain
of the bacterium, Salmonella typhi,
which can cross the intestinal wall and
invade other tissues

 Appendectomy – surgical removal of  Cholera – caused by bacterium, Vibrio

appendix cholera, from contaminated waters

 Diarrhea – increased stool frequency or  Giardiasis – caused by protozoan,

volume / increased stool fluidity
 Vomiting – contraction of the diaphragm
and abdominal muscles and relaxation of
the esophageal sphincters to forcefully
expel gastric contents
Giardia lamblia, that invades the
intestine
 Dysentery – severe form of diarrhea with
blood or mucus in the feces; caused by
bacteria, protozoa, or amoeba

 Liver Cirrhosis - damage to and death of

hepatic cells and replacement by
connective tissue; common consequence
of alcoholism

 Hepatitis – inflammation of the liver

 Hepatitis A – infectious; transmitted by

poor sanitation practices or
contaminated waters

 Hepatitis B – Serum hepatitis;

transmitted through blood or other
bodily fluids or contamination by
hypodermic needles

 Hepatitis C – chronic disease leading to

cirrhosis and possibly cancer of the liver