AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats are herbivores with a unique digestive anatomy. A prominent feature of ruminant dental anatomy is that they lack upper incisors, having instead a “dental pad", as shown in the image to the right of a goat.

Detailed explanation-2: -The dental pad or browsing pad is a feature of ruminant dental anatomy that results from a lack of upper incisors and helps them gather large quantities of grass and other plant matter. This feature can be found in ruminants such as cattle and sheep.

Detailed explanation-3: -The deciduous and permanent dental formula of cows, sheep, and goats are similar. All ruminants lack upper incisor teeth, with the mandibular brachydont (short-crowned) incisors meeting with a maxillary cornified dental pad.

Detailed explanation-4: -The main differences between ruminants and mo-nogastrics are monogastrics only have one compart-ment to their stomach, whereas ruminants have four compartments: rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abo-masum. Ruminants chew their food numerous times through a process called regurgitation or rumination.