How are animals, specifically carrion birds, able to eat rotting flesh without ill effect?
In: Biology
I should add vultures are not eating “rotting” flesh all the time, though often they do. The carcass might be in the very early stages of decomp but the muscle tissue which starts essentially sterile may not be “rotten”. That said they happily devour the entrails as well which even when fresh are filled with bacteria. And this highlights something that we don’t like to think about in our own bodies, namely that our own intestines are filled with highly toxic dangerous bacteria as well. So long as the bacteria stay put in our gut every thing is fine. A vulture’s digestive system is colonized with bacteria which match their diet just like ours are. The fact that their natural bowel flora bacteria are also found in decomposition doesn’t mean that those bacteria are necessarily more pathological or disease causing.
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