ruminant: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	Ruminantia

Photos

Diagram comparing the digestive tracts of a cow and a chicken, highlighting the cow's four stomach chambers (rumen, reticulum, omasum, abomasum) and the chicken's three stomach chambers (crop, proventriculus, gizzard), with labeled esophagus and small intestine in each animal.

See All Images →

Topics

bovid deer chevrotain Moschidae Giraffidae giraffe Cow bison Wagyu gazelle tylopod primate perissodactyl cetacean bat carnivore 9 of the World’s Deadliest Mammals rodent marsupial 8 Famous Animals

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names

Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz

Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius). Animals, mammals.

Ultimate Animals Quiz

Lion (panthera leo)

Deadliest Animals Quiz

Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)

Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024

Animal Factoids