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prettygoodword ([personal profile] prettygoodword) wrote2015-03-18 07:45 am

gastrolith

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.
med_cat: (Default)

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