RUMINANT STOMACH

The ruminant stomach is actually a single stomach modi­fied by marked expansion of the esophageal region into three distinct and voluminous diverticula, the rumen, retic­ulum, and omasum, collectively known as the forestom­ach. These are lined with nonglandular stratified squamous epithelium and comprise a series of chambers where food is subjected to digestion by microorganisms before pass­ing through the digestive tract to the smaller glandular por­tion of the stomach in the ruminant, the abomasum (Figure 16.1).

16.3