Anatomy

Rumen

The first stomach of ruminants. It lies on the left side of the body, occupying the whole of the left side of the abdomen and even stretching across the median plane of the body to the right side. It is capacious, divided into an upper and a lower sac, each of which has a blind sac at its posterior extremity. The rumen is lined by mucous membrane containing no digestive glands, but mucus-secreting glands are present in large numbers. Coarse, partially chewed food is stored and churned in the rumen until the animal finds circumstances convenient for rumination. When this occurs, little balls of food are regurgitated through the esophagus into the mouth, and are subjected to a second more thorough mastication, swallowed, and passed on into other parts of the compound stomach. (From Black's Veterinary Dictionary, 17th ed)

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

The first stomach of ruminants. It lies on the left side of the body, occupying the whole of the left side of the abdomen and even stretching across the median plane of the body to the right side. It is capacious, divided into an upper and a lower sac, each of which has a blind sac at its posterior extremity. The rumen is lined by mucous membrane containing no digestive glands, but mucus-secreting glands are present in large numbers. Coarse, partially chewed food is stored and churned in the rumen until the animal finds circumstances convenient for rumination. When this occurs, little balls of food are regurgitated through the esophagus into the mouth, and are subjected to a second more thorough mastication, swallowed, and passed on into other parts of the compound stomach. (From Black's Veterinary Dictionary, 17th ed)

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

Related Concepts

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MeSH Record

Synonyms

1 entry terms
  • Rumens

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

24 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings abnormalities, anatomy & histology, blood supply, chemistry, cytology, diagnostic imaging, drug effects, embryology, enzymology, growth & development, immunology, injuries, innervation, metabolism, microbiology, parasitology, pathology, physiology, physiopathology, radiation effects, surgery, transplantation, ultrastructure, virology.

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

a ruminant's 1st stomach; dis: coord IM with STOMACH DISEASES /vet (IM); neopl: coord IM with STOMACH NEOPLASMS /vet (IM) + histol type /vet (IM); ulcer: coord IM with STOMACH ULCER /vet (IM)

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

  1. A13.869.804w

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Rumen. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D012417. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D012417
  2. Rumen. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumen
  3. Rumen. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q427652