gastrolith

Mar. 18th, 2015 07:45 am
prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (words are sexy)
[personal profile] prettygoodword
gastrolith (GAS-struh-lith) - n., a stone or pebble which is or has been held inside the digestive tract of an animal to aid in buoyancy or food processing.


A gizzard stone -- kept in the gizzard, where muscles squeeze food between them to mash up food when (as with birds) chewing is not an option. Also can be a calcification in the stomach, but that seems to be a minor meaning. Coined in the 1850s from Greek roots gastro-, stomach + -lith, related to stone.

---L.

Date: 2015-03-19 12:17 am (UTC)
med_cat: (Default)
From: [personal profile] med_cat
Another one of the "liths" :) Neat, not come across this one before.

June 2025

S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 67
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 7th, 2025 10:06 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios