Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

 
How is the digestive system of turkeys different from that of humans?
wallyb 

Answer:  Hmmm.. been a while since I had sophomore biology, so I can't completely answer 
this one, but I can say a few things.  One, since turkeys are birds, and birds as a 
general rule have not had teeth for several million years at least, the turkey needs a 
way to mash up its food -- thus, the crop, which is essentially like another stomach: the 
turkey (and many other birds, for that matter) swallows small stones which serve in lieu 
of teeth, mashing up food via muscular action in the crop, from whence the "chewed" food 
moves on into the rest of the digestive tract.  As for any other differences, I'll have 
to leave that to someone else with more ornithological experience...
Wordsworth