Fecal plug
Hardened bear feces formed during hibernation / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A fecal plug (sometimes referred to as a tappen) is a significant biological phenomenon observed in bears and other animals during hibernation. It is a dense mass of hardened feces that forms in the colon due to having remained in the intestine so long that the intestinal walls have absorbed the fluids out of it, leaving it dry and hard.[1] An erroneous speculation still repeated in popular literature today is that bears prepare for hibernation by eating indigestible plant material to purge their digestive tracts and form a rectal plug that prevents further eating.[1]
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (November 2023) |