These Animals Lost Their Stomachs. Why?

Check out our sibling channel Bizarre Beast: / bizarrebeasts
What do a platypus, a pufferfish, and a seahorse have in common? Why, they all managed to evolve themselves out of having a working stomach! The reasons why might vary, as well as how they manage to live their lives without them, but they're all super cool!
Hosted by: Rose Bear Don't Walk
----------
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: / scishow
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Matt Curls, Alisa Sherbow, Dr. Melvin Sanicas, Harrison Mills, Adam Brainard, Chris Peters, charles george, Piya Shedden, Alex Hackman, Christopher R, Boucher, Jeffrey Mckishen, Ash, Silas Emrys, Eric Jensen, Kevin Bealer, Jason A Saslow, Tom Mosner, Tomás Lagos González, Jacob, Christoph Schwanke, Sam Lutfi, Bryan Cloer
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
SciShow Tangents Podcast: scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/
TikTok: / scishow
Twitter: / scishow
Instagram: / thescishowfacebook: / scishow
#SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly
----------
Sources
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com...
genomebiology.biomedcentral.c...
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
link.springer.com/article/10....
IMAGES
www.gettyimages.com
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

[@SciShow]

Check out our sibling channel Bizarre Beast: kzbin.info

[@BizarreBeasts]

Thanks for the shout-out!!! And if you'd like more platypus facts, we have an episode all about them! kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2a1q6ttrsqbbcU

[@storkbreath]

Thank you for the link to Bizarre Breasts

[@alto7183]

Buen video, los estómagos son necesarios a menos que este tipo de cosas pasen evolutiva mente, por cierto lo interesante es ver en la evolución cuando el diseño lo hace más ácido, elástico y otros para ver la evolución biológica de los estómagos, los omnivoros sería lo más adecuado para el espacio y otras galaxias. Sugerencia.

[@codygolden7074]

Not using a stomach is the least weird thing about a platypus

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

Having venomous spurs and an electro sensitive duck beak are a little weirder, yeah. And the egg thing.

[@BoyProdigyX]

And how their sex chromosomes work, with 5 pairs of X and Y...

[@ja-naihibbs7095]

And they sweat milk

[@kalexambing2507]

Honestly they’re horrifying 😅

[@alterego2421]

​@@kalexambing2507nah they are cute af

[@maddenedgeek7726]

As an Australian, I’d like to say that our bizarre animals are one of the things I love most about this country. In Europe, the phrase “black swan”, dating back to the Romans, used to be used like “when pigs fly”, a scenario so unlikely that it’s virtually impossible. Then Europeans settled Australia and they realised, nope, black swans do exist, but only in Australia. 😂

[@Gildedmuse]

I hadn't ever heard that. I love it.

[@yukinagato1573]

Now I need to know if there are flying pigs in Australia.

[@maddenedgeek7726]

@@yukinagato1573hat depends what you mean by “flying”. 🤔 Feral pigs (wild boars) can jump pretty high. 😆The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry recommends pig exclusionary fencing be between 0.8-1.25 metres high, but there have been cases of them jumping higher. 😂🤣 Europeans introduced those though.

[@maddenedgeek7726]

@@GildedmuseThe phrase went out of fashion for obvious reasons. 😂

[@DonnaBarrHerself]

And the Aboriginals have such great myths why.

[@Katie-hh9eu]

"Adorable angry nightmare balloon" is the perfect description for pufferfish, haha.

[@sandradermark8463]

And don't forget the poison (tetrodotoxin)

[@glenngriffon8032]

So Sonic the hedgehog has a stomach but Knuckles the Echidna doesn't?

[@DJFracus]

echidnas have penises with four heads so I call it even

[@Wolfie54545]

@@DJFracusYa and hedgehog penises are on their chest. What of it?

[@faenethlorhalien]

Well... you can't get a stomach ulcer if you don't have a stomach! Think about it! ALL BENEFITS!!!

[@BaddeGrasse]

those of us with digestive issues like 🤔 im listening

[@silviavalentine3812]

OOO OOOOO that means I can eat all the sour candies and lemons I want!

[@Herio7]

I'm not even surprised that Platypus is weird in another way...

[@gochadc]

It would be weirder if it had a normal functional stomach, that's something I wouldn't expect anymore.

[@TheDeepThinker-sq3iy]

Yea... the ONLY way I can think of this thing getting any weirder, is if it actually had multi-dimensional shifting abilities and it was found that it's not even native to current time, reality or space. . . If this was a fact... that would actually explain so much. . . . . . . .

[@PATRIK67KALLBACK]

Interesting video! My native language is Swedish and we have always been tought that stomach and belly are interchangeable. So this was the first time I realized what stomach specifically is. In Swedish the word is more like "belly sack" or "stomach sack" 🙂

[@sandradermark8463]

Magsäck. My dad is Swedish 🇸🇪 and I speak the language.

[@CL-go2ji]

Re: "stomach and belly are interchangeable": in colloquial American English (can´t speak for the UK) this is ROUGHLY true, but every normal adult has no trouble using the difference in a relevant context. "Belly" is the (mostly lower) abdomen, "stomach" is the organ with the acid-resistant lining. If you just consistently use the words that way you will avoid confusion. (um, actually, that would work for native speakers too ...)

[@kisakisakura6663]

@@sandradermark8463 reminds me of the German >Magen< for stomach. Belly I usually just translated to unspecified area between ribcage and hips >BauchDarm< for intestines came from?

[@complex314i]

Yet another bizarre aspect of the platypus. Currently the bizarre aspects list stands at: 1. Monotreme (egg laying mammal) 2. Venomous A. Few mammals have venom B. It directly activates pain receptors 3. The Duck Bill A. Distinctly avian trait in a mammal B. It is a case of convergent evolution but with sharks rather than ducks 4. Electro-reception A. Sense electrical impulses in an animal nerves system B. The duck bill contains the receptors and the shape optimizes electro reception in a similar way to how the hammer head shape does in sharks 5. They glow in the dark 6. They lack a stomach

[@terranovarubacha5473]

They glow under UV light* Nice list :)

[@complex314i]

@@terranovarubacha5473 Thanks, I forgot the UV aspect.

[@samanthapartridge1290]

they also have vomeronasal receptors in their bills as well. These are to detect odours and tastes underwater. They have specialised patches of skin in their abdomens to secrete milk for their young to suckle. Their young are called puggles (same as echidnas). They have hatching teeth as a juvenile to break out of their shell, then they lose them with a day or two to develop the keratin dental pads in their bills....

[@CL-go2ji]

7. Both sexes sweat milk from flat skin patches on their bellies (when they have young).

[@DonMarzzoni]

They lay eggs!

[@MBMCincy63]

"adorable angry nightmare balloon"😂😂😂😂, best line you said. Thanks again for the information and neat features of life evolved.

[@1TakoyakiStore]

I would love to read a scientific paper on acidic vs agastric vs alkaline forms of digestion in animals and why we have more in some categories than others.

[@krystal2157]

You're just my type of nerd, lol.

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

Now that you point it out, me too 😂

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

I think alkaline being more rare is because it runs the risk of damaging the organism itself, since all life is protein based and proteins are made of amino acids. Bases will cause more corrosive damage to tissue than acids of similar strength.

[@megamanx466]

@@OtakuUnitedStudio Interesting hypothesis. I don't think that's the case, but I see your line of reasoning.

[@megamanx466]

Some species are very niche and their way of life is fine until it's disturbed enough that they have to change. If given enough time/generations, then they evolve. If not... extinction. I believe these agastric creatures to be in the first category. 🤔

[@TastyChubz]

Don't forget that platypi also have heel spikes, sweat milk instead of from breasts and glow in the dark under certain conditions. Why are they so weird!

[@Sydney-Casket-Base]

didnt know that they glow in the dark!

[@ilexater9556]

We blame Australia for all weirdness.

[@bobaeyoo6929]

@@Sydney-Casket-Basethey glow in UV light. Not glow in the dark

[@animax2422]

​@@bobaeyoo6929No, but it means they glow under moon light. Close enough for me.

[@Sydney-Casket-Base]

@@bobaeyoo6929 ahhh ok. big difference.

[@chii2924]

The wildest part about this video was learning what a platypus skull looks like

[@DJFracus]

platypus skulls look like something from a metal album cover

[@Emiko0807]

When working at a gastroenterologic surgery, I was told that humans can, in fact, live without stomachs, esophaguses and colons/rectums. And we had one patient who left his operation without all three.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

How did they sustain themselves? Permanent iv?

[@Benzene265]

So, they just left his small intestine in there all alone?

[@Emiko0807]

Well, you need the small intestine for the intake of nutrients. The esophagus just connects the stomach to the throat. And there are many stomach cancer patients without stomachs, who still live happy lives. They have to chew more and eat smaller portions. And patients who got their colon removed still lived on to tell the tale. If the rest of the intestines was still connectible to the anus, they could even poop normally though if would have been watery all the time. The bigger problem and blow to one's QOL is if you need an artificial outlet and constantly need to catch your poo in a bag under your clothes.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

@@Emiko0807 Ah, I get it now. I was thinking the whole system was being removed

[@JosiahMcCarthy]

Wow, I really liked the script writing on this one! Really well laid out for my thoughts to follow, and just really clearly articulate given so much of what was covered was ideas and hypotheses. Great job!

[@brianmcbride3847]

I mean, the platypus... how does that thing even exist??? 🤪

[@Guru_1092]

IT ALSO GLOWS! AND HAS VENOM. WHAT IS THIS ANIMAL EVEN?!

[@sergeantpeppers8858]

There were some shenanigans going on on Noah's ark between the ducks and the beavers.

[@stevenking3323]

​@@sergeantpeppers8858and scorpions and apparently fish

[@maddenedgeek7726]

As an Australian, I’d like to say that our bizarre animals are one of the things I love most about this country. In Europe, the phrase “black swan”, dating back to the Romans, used to be used like “when pigs fly”, a scenario so unlikely that it’s virtually impossible. Then Europeans settled Australia and they realised, nope, black swans do exist, but only in Australia. 😂

[@foracal5608]

It's just beaver footage played backwards

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

never would have guessed i was so closely related to anything that has zero stomachs. four stomachs sure, but none? none stomachs? what?

[@outlawbillionairez9780]

I ate at Arby's once. My doctor says that's how I lost my stomach. 🥺

[@julybliss4440]

😆. I lost more than just my stomach from eating there.

[@nickparsons337]

​@@julybliss4440As Homer Simpson once said: "If I can keep down Arby's; I can keep down you!"

[@outlawbillionairez9780]

@@nickparsons337 hahaha 😂

[@RamiSlicer]

A Man Ate One Arby's Steak, This Is How He Lost His Stomach

[@GordonPavilion]

I don’t know if I can stomach watching the entire video.

[@osmia]

Lol

[@outlawmusic23]

Person thinks it's funny

[@storkbreath]

That was so general I was hoping to hear a little more specifically about platypuses and their strange digestive system.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

I'm having that feeling a lot lately with SciShow :(

[@Salt_Master_Queue]

I love learning about semi-aquatic egg laying mammals of action!

[@AC-cg4be]

I need a poster of the Tyrannosaur meat cuts. That was awesome.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

Search and you may find

[@CL-go2ji]

Petition for merch!

[@kyrab7914]

Rose saying I love you to her stomach is such a mood. It is neat to learn so many animals just don't have stomachs.

[@greenjelly01]

Some humans go to great lengths to not have a stomach!

[@hecgalher]

And yet we as humans go a step further and do a full gastric bypass 😆Great host and info as allways

[@mcv2178]

I heard of some people who live without stomachs, but it very hard to get nutrition

[@kevincherry4989]

There must be hours of outtakes for this video! Good job narrating, that was a mouthful.

[@madi4988]

I love SciShow and as a fellow science communicator so have so much respect for this channel. I’ve watched it for years and continue to learn and discover new things. If I could offer one piece of constructive criticism, it would be to add more variability to your intonation. Always speaking with a “leading” intonation is common, but it often ends in burying the most important or impactful pieces of information. I love your passion and knowledge and your willingness to put yourself out there and share with the world! Intonation is a difficult skill to develop and change and is something I work on consistently. Just something to think about! Thank you for always making amazing content and bringing science to our communities! You are very appreciated!

[@CL-go2ji]

I usually leap to defend SciShow but ... he´s right about this one.

[@MaiTai16]

Always enjoy your videos Rose. Great job.

[@leelarson1952]

"Adorable Angry Nightmare Balloon" -- sounds like a great band name.

[@bnthern]

love your enthusiasm

[@subtropical1228]

As someone with acid reflux, I think these animals have the right idea

[@rockabluesy60]

Platypus is like Evolution's playing ground. It's like when the developers pushed the wrong buggy codes but clients think it's a feature and carry it on.

[@moonstonepearl21]

"An adorable angry balloon" is a new fun way of describing a blow fish :)

[@Babbajune]

Adorable, angry, nightmare balloon! 🤣🤣 Love it! A very interesting video, too! Thanks!

[@LiamRappaport]

Platypus takes “let’s celebrate our differences” to a while new level.

[@Sxcheschka]

Nightmare Balloons has me ded.

[@bobbygermain9635]

When I see scishow I click

[@Offutticus]

"adorable, angry nightmare balloon"....well, yeah, best description ever!

[@ksscientistorrapper9919]

Who would’ve thought plats could get weirder 😂

[@MrGrin79]

2:13. I wonder how many takes did that tongue twister take?!?! 🤔

[@Bit-while_going]

It's not too difficult for me to understand how a stomach evolves or devolves, but what about a uterus? I wonder how animals evolved from egg laying salamanders to marsupials and mammals. Did the first mammal swim over to Africa from Australia and need a better solution to survive the trip?

[@duanesamuelson2256]

It's not so weird. There are fish that are not just livebearers (retaining eggs until the fry are born after the eggsack is used up) but actually feed the developing fry as mammals do from the mother's bloodstream (not an actual placenta but a working analog).

[@dig3st0r]

stomach is such an oddly fun word to say.

[@terranovarubacha5473]

It's right up there with pumpkin

[@Rolandais]

It's also entirely possible, that the reason for it happening, is that there wasn't anything negative about their stomachs function changing, with regards to their ability to pass on their genes, rather than it having been to do something special, which you don't seem to cover.

[@_andrewvia]

Rose again! Hooray! Thank you Rose for narrating for Sci Show.

[@laurenzparsons5315]

I have a theory why platypuses are flourescent. I think they can see ultraviolet. Mammals lost the ability to see ultraviolet during our evolution when we went through a nocturnal phase. I think the platypuses branched off from our common ancestor before this happened. I suspect they still have the lightcones to see UV like birds do.

[@GeoffryGifari]

yes we know they're weird, but is there an evolutionary reason why there are so few monotreme species left? were they more widespread and diverse before?

[@glossaria2]

Humans: "Wow, the platypus is really weird." Mother Nature: "Hold my kombucha."

[@fauxvier8519]

Always love her energy

[@moonstonepearl21]

That blue seahorse you showed is so beautiful. It's so cool to see one of my favorite animals in my favorite color!

[@sbomorse]

Interesting video. Would have been more interesting if you told us how the agastric system actually breaks down the food....

[@ilexater9556]

Largely intestinally.

[@DJFracus]

food is digested and nutrients are absorbed in the intestines. actually, humans can and have survived without stomachs (removed with surgery because reasons) in that way, they just don't digest food as well.

[@Apeiron242]

Did they try retracing their evolutionary steps?

[@mixproxxy2010]

i really like this lady! great casting scishow.

[@derersterindiekommentarsch9563]

AMAZING!

[@wmdkitty]

I'd love to just yeet my digestive tract entirely.

[@The1nsane1]

Possibly the cutest photos of monotremes I've seen - 2:06.

[@boburanus69]

Possibly reason for not having a stomach: has venom/poison glands instead.

[@phoebus86]

Another one of the list on why the platypus is the strangest mammal.

[@jellydelly4524]

why do i keep finding out new things about the platypus..... like I thought I knew it all and yet here I am learning new things.

[@AmyMcLean]

A technically still a dinosaur chicken wing 😂

[@emilianovera3643]

Coral munching parrot fish sounds like a sick burn

[@orishaeshu1084]

Carpet coral exists. Do with this what you will.

[@tylerhloewen]

"Tummy rumbles" are from intestinal motility (your intestines squirting stuff around) NOT your stomach.

[@harrisonmoore3841]

This means Perry the Platypus doesn't have a stomach.

[@c.rogers4394]

Maybe one about the reasons for gallbladder or not.

[@bmiller949]

It certainly defies my understanding without a stomach. How are proteins assembles and how/where are the building blocks absorbed?

[@elizabethduffy2145]

I mean, at this stage in life I should know never to be surprised about anything platypus related… but yet again…

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

As someone who would lose their head if it wasn't attached, I am *concerned* to learn it may be possible to someday lose it even though it IS attached. : s

[@CL-go2ji]

🤣 Whoa, brother, same here!

[@TheReubenShow]

I love you beautiful people for not being TV beautiful, just people. We're all pulling for Hank, right? Stay normal looking, Baratnas.

[@VilcxjoVakero]

It's like elephants evolving smaller tusks - a population of predatory seagulls from Scotland was using these species for haggis

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

The platty skelly @ 5:01 looks like it's got a hip-hoppin' popped collar built right into its bones; born fashionable. Also weird, but fashionable.

[@CL-go2ji]

Yeah - even their bones are weird!

[@Larixlaricina]

"adorable angry nightmare balloon"

[@IvanLuelmo]

Ohhh, don't work through your lunch hour!

[@hugocallebaut2242]

Hey! Could animals that have two parts in the stomach (one that secreates and one that doesnt- like horses) be an evolutionary "inbetween"?

[@happinessescape]

If you enjoy comics/manga, I highly recommend Heaven’s Design Team. It has a super fun perspective on animal “design” and describes why some animals, despite being extraordinarily weird (sloths, platypuses, mole rats), work, and others (unicorns, griffins) don’t.

[@Arcterion]

Because they couldn't stomach it anymore~

[@General12th]

Hi Rose!

[@Reyma777]

When mentioning animals without a stomach a red tailed catfish was shown, so I assume it lacks a stomach. I used to have pet pictus catfish, which are close relatives of red tailed catfish, they appeared to have a stomach.

[@stefanostokatlidis4861]

Some of those animals may have a space like a stomach, but it isn’t functional. It is just storing food.

[@Reyma777]

@@stefanostokatlidis4861 I have read that predatory catfish have muscular stomachs for restraining live prey that is swallowed whole. So I would assume the red tail catfish, being a predator of fish has a stomach.

[@Ivi-Tora]

At this point I'm not sure what's weirder: Platypus or Spinosaurus

[@kingofichigo]

Goldfish don't have stomachs. This makes it harder to keep their water clean. They poop so much and need more food

[@lucasbrelivet5238]

I wonder how stomachs don't digest themselves.

[@Otis151]

Of course platypus. Bc it’s not weird enough, right? 😂

[@khartog01]

Breakfast is late I'm going to starve.

[@flavioxy]

i have chronic gastritis. i wonder whether i'd live better without a stomach

[@blazebluebass]

That intro 😂❤️

[@sarcasmo57]

I'm quite fond of my stomach.

[@DatRandomInternetDude]

Wtf even is a platypus these days 😂 They are all the animals into one

[@mariakasstan]

Some people don't have stomachs if they are surgically removed due to cancer, etc...and they seem to learn to manage too.

[@StYxXx]

Maybe they got tired of having heartburn after a party

[@nebulan]

5:17 mood

[@wheredoigo1420]

They couldn’t stomach it

[@dr.heinzdoofenshmirtz7392]

Probably a cause of my anti-stomach inator.

[@rainydaylady6596]

The more i learn about Platypuses the more I wonder why my aunt called me Platypus as a nickname. 🤪😳😂🤣😂🖖💕

[@zigaudrey]

Isn't the intestine the one who make noise? But I wouldn't mind associate this sound to the stomach. Thank him to keep us alive when need it. 2:09 Echidna... WHAT?! Digestive track also contribute to animal diet!

[@dan74695]

My question is not "Why?", it's "How?" lol

[@sci-fiaction6576]

Adorable Perry Duck bill and beaver tail Semi-aquatic monotremate Lay egg and have milk Venomous sting( with no cure ) Glow in dark And don’t have stomach

[@terranovarubacha5473]

They glow under UV light *

[@maozero2143]

i would guess the ones wif out the stomachs are poisonous give up the juices for poison powers

[@Yupppi]

Some people live without stomach as well.

[@chrisliden716]

All milk is technically boob milk

[@guyinthewhiteT]

The more I learn about monotremes the less I trust them

[@hukmai]

What i would give to not have tummy gurgles at work

[@Hobbes4ever]

not having a stomach is kind of fishy