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GCSE Biology · key term
The removal of undigested food from the digestive system as faeces.
Used by AQA and OCR
Specification 4.7.4.3 · Paper 2
The removal of undigested and unabsorbed food from the digestive system as faeces.
Revise: Biomass TransferEgestion and excretion are therefore different. Egested material was never absorbed into the body, whereas excretory products were produced by processes within the organism.
Specification B4.1i · Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 4 (Higher)
Do not confuse egestion with excretion: faeces contain unabsorbed material, whereas urine contains excretory products such as urea and water.
Distinguish egestion (undigested food leaves as faeces) from excretion (metabolic waste leaves the body).
Distinguish egestion of undigested food in faeces from excretion of metabolic waste such as urea in urine.
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Some food cannot be digested and leaves as faeces. This is egestion: for example, a rabbit may eat grass containing plant fibres it cannot digest. That material has not become rabbit biomass, so it cannot be passed on as rabbit tissue when a fox eats the rabbit.
Paper 1 (Foundation), Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 3 (Higher), Paper 4 (Higher)
The removal of undigested material from the digestive system as faeces.
Revise: Pyramids of BiomassTough plant material and other indigestible substances pass through the gut and leave in faeces. This is egestion. The material may later be used by decomposers, but it has not been incorporated into the consumer's biomass.