Eli5: How is it that Cows can consume the same fibrous grass that makes every other herbivores scat into tight balls, somehow manage to produce turds of such low density as to be called “cow patties”? ?

Question

Eli5: How is it that Cows can consume the same fibrous grass that makes every other herbivores scat into tight balls, somehow manage to produce turds of such low density as to be called “cow patties”? ?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Because they basically have constant diarrhea. The bad thing about diarrhea is that you get dehydrated quickly so in the wild, they had to put more energy in conserving water. But domesticated, they were taken care of, so they had an abundant supply of water, and breeding (and thus evolution) could focus on other areas.