Comparative anatomy of the digestive tract of different birds of the Psittaciformes order

Abstract

The bird world has a fantastic wealth and are recognized around 9,700 species worldwide (29 orders, 187 families and 2,000 gender), and are found in Brazil more than 1,600 species. The digestive system is the "compartment" of the body responsible for the maintenance of life, and the digestive tract of each bird adapted to process and use as efficiently as possible the food available in their habitat. In order to increase their knowledge regarding the anatomical digestive tract of birds, we dealt with in a comparative study, six specimens of birds, representatives of the order Psittaciformes, donated by commercial breeders and conservationists in the region, IBAMA, Uberlândia/MG. In the Research Laboratory of Wild Animals (LAPAS) of the UFU, the animals were photographed, identified as to the order, gender, species and dissected for the purpose of obtaining information about the topography, shape and dimensions of the segments of the digestive tract in different species. We observed some differences in the topography, size and composition of the digestive tract, between species. Most relevant features observed include absence of cecum and the presence of inglúvio in all species studied.