THE DIGESTIVE-TRACT OF MACROSCELIDES PROBASCIDEUS AND THE EFFECTS OF DIET QUALITY ON GUT DIMENSIONS

The digestive anatomy of the round-eared elephant shrew Macroscelides proboscideus, was investigated. The gut combines features indicative o f both insectivory and herbivory. The stomach is a unilocular glandula r sac. The caecum is an elongate blind-ending pouch, and houses a dive rse microflora. The colon is well developed (25% of gut length). Diges tive anatomy supports Kerley's (1995) contention that M. proboscideus is a true omnivore. The gut dimensions of M. proboscideus responded to differences in food quality, animals fed a high fibre diet exhibiting greater caecal capacity than those fed a low fibre diet. This hindgut plasticity is likely to compensate for short-term changes in food qua lity.