Crop (anatomy):
This article is about the digestive croup. For the (unrelated) skeletal croup, see Rump (croup). A crop (or croup) is a thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract used for the storage of food prior to digestion that is found in many animals, including gastropods, earthworms[1], leeches[2], insects, and birds.
Cropping is used by bees to temporarily store nectar of flowers. When bees "suck" nectar, it is stored in their crop.[3]
In a bird's digestive system, the crop is an expanded, muscular pouch near the gullet or throat. It is a part of the digestive tract, essentially an enlarged part of the esophagus. As with most other organisms that have a crop, the crop is used to temporarily store food. Not all birds have a crop. In adult doves and pigeons, the crop can produce crop milk to feed newly hatched birds.[4]
Scavenging birds, such as vultures, will gorge themselves when prey is abundant, causing their crop to bulge. They subsequently sit, sleepy or half torpid, to digest their food.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Worm World: About Earthworms- http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/worm/pg000102.html
- ^ R. T. Sawyer, Leach Biology and Behaviour, Volume II - http://www.biopharm-leeches.com/pdf/bioandbehav.pdf
- ^ Honeybee Biology - http://koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/Plants_Human/bees/bees.html
- ^ The Alimentary Canal in Birds - http://www.earthlife.net/birds/digestion.html
[edit] External links
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