View source for Biology:Feces

{{Short description|Solid or semisolid remains of undigested food}}
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'''Feces''' ([[Social:American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe|or]] '''faeces'''; {{singular}}: '''faex''') are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the [[Biology:Small intestine|small intestine]], and has been broken down by bacteria in the [[Biology:Large intestine|large intestine]].<ref name=tortora1>{{cite book |last1=Tortora |first1=Gerard J. |last2=Anagnostakos |first2=Nicholas P. |title=Principles of anatomy and physiology |url=https://archive.org/details/principlesofanat05tort |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/principlesofanat05tort/page/624 624] |edition=Fifth |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Row, Publishers |date=1987 |isbn=978-0-06-350729-6}}</ref><ref name=ciba>{{cite book |last1=Diem |first1=K. |last2=Lentner |first2=C. |chapter=Faeces |title=in: Scientific Tables |edition=Seventh |location=Basle, Switzerland |publisher=CIBA-GEIGY Ltd. |date=1970 |pages=657–660}}</ref> Feces contain a relatively small amount of [[Biology:Metabolic waste|metabolic waste]] products such as bacterially altered [[Chemistry:Bilirubin|bilirubin]], and dead epithelial cells from the lining of the gut.<ref name=tortora1 />

Feces are discharged through the [[Biology:Anus|anus]] or [[Biology:Cloaca|cloaca]] during [[Biology:Defecation|defecation]].

Feces can be used as [[Chemistry:Fertilizer|fertilizer]] or [[Earth:Soil conditioner|soil conditioner]] in agriculture. They can also be burned as fuel or dried and used for [[Engineering:Wattle and daub|construction]]. Some medicinal uses have been found. In the case of [[Medicine:Human feces|human feces]], fecal transplants or fecal bacteriotherapy are in use. [[Biology:Urine|Urine]] and feces together are called [[Biology:Excretion|excreta]].
right|thumb|[[Skatole is the principal compound responsible for the unpleasant smell of feces.]]

==Characteristics==
[[Image:Hydrogen-sulfide-3D-vdW.png|right|thumb|100px|The [[Physics:Molecule|molecule]] hydrogen sulfide contributes to the smell of feces.]]The distinctive odor of feces is due to skatole, and thiols (sulfur-containing compounds), as well as amines and carboxylic acids. Skatole is produced from tryptophan via indoleacetic acid. [[Chemistry:Decarboxylation|Decarboxylation]] gives skatole.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whitehead |first1=T. R. |last2=Price |first2=N. P. |last3=Drake |first3=H. L. |last4=Cotta |first4=M. A. |title=Catabolic pathway for the production of skatole and indoleacetic acid by the acetogen Clostridium drakei, Clostridium scatologenes, and swine manure |journal=Applied and Environmental Microbiology |volume=74 |issue=6 |pages=1950–3 |pmid=18223109 |pmc=2268313 |date=25 January 2008 |doi=10.1128/AEM.02458-07 |bibcode=2008ApEnM..74.1950W}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/ajcn/32.1.173 |pmid=367144 |title=Microbial metabolites of tryptophan in the intestinal tract with special reference to skatole |journal=The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=173–178 |year=1979 |last1=Yokoyama |first1=M. T. |last2=Carlson |first2=J. R.|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The perceived bad odor of feces has been hypothesized to be a deterrent for humans, as consuming or touching it may result in sickness or infection.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Curtis V, Aunger R, Rabie T |title=Evidence that disgust evolved to protect from risk of disease |journal=Proc. Biol. Sci. |volume=271 |issue=Suppl 4 |pages=S131–3 |date=May 2004 |pmid=15252963 |pmc=1810028 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2003.0144}}</ref> 

===Physiology===
{{Main|Biology:Defecation}}
Feces are discharged through the [[Biology:Anus|anus]] or [[Biology:Cloaca|cloaca]] during [[Biology:Defecation|defecation]]. This process requires pressures that may reach {{convert|100|mmHg|inHg}} (13.3 kPa) in humans and {{convert|450|mmHg|inHg}} (60 kPa) in penguins.<ref name="LangleyCheraskin1958">{{cite book |last1=Langley |first1=Leroy Lester |last2=Cheraskin |first2=Emmanuel |title=The Physiology of Man |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPFGAAAAYAAJ |year=1958 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |access-date=3 December 2019 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801131456/https://books.google.com/books?id=aPFGAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Meyer-RochowGal2003">{{cite journal |last1=Meyer-Rochow |first1=Victor Benno |last2=Gal |first2=Jozsef |title=Pressures produced when penguins pooh?calculations on avian defaecation |journal=Polar Biology |volume=27 |issue=1 |year=2003 |pages=56–58 |issn=0722-4060 |doi=10.1007/s00300-003-0563-3 |bibcode=2003PoBio..27...56M |s2cid=43386022}}</ref> The forces required to expel the feces are generated through muscular contractions and a build-up of gases inside the gut, prompting the sphincter to relieve the pressure and release the feces.<ref name="Meyer-RochowGal2003" />

==Ecology==
After an animal has digested eaten material, the remains of that material are discharged from its body as waste. Although it is lower in energy than the food from which it is derived, feces may retain a large amount of energy, often 50% of that of the original food.<ref name="CummingsCampbell2008">{{cite book |last1=Cummings |first1=Benjamin |last2=Campbell |first2=Neil A. |title=Biology, 8th Edition, Campbell & Reece, 2008: Biology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5nZlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA890 |edition=8th |year=2008 |publisher=Pearson |page=890}}</ref> This means that of all food eaten, a significant amount of energy remains for the decomposers of ecosystems.

Many organisms feed on feces, from bacteria to fungi to insects such as [[Biology:Dung beetle|dung beetle]]s, who can sense odors from long distances.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1179-146 |vauthors=Heinrich B, Bartholomew GA |title=The ecology of the African dung beetle |journal=Scientific American |volume=241 |issue=5 |pages=146–56 |year=1979 |bibcode=1979SciAm.241e.146H}}</ref> Some may specialize in feces, while others may eat other foods. Feces serve not only as a basic food, but also as a supplement to the usual diet of some animals. This process is known as [[Biology:Coprophagia|coprophagia]], and occurs in various animal species such as young elephants eating the feces of their mothers to gain essential [[Biology:Gut flora|gut flora]], or by other animals such as dogs, rabbits, and monkeys.

Feces and urine, which reflect [[Physics:Ultraviolet|ultraviolet]] light, are important to raptors such as [[Biology:Kestrel|kestrel]]s, who can see the near ultraviolet and thus find their prey by their [[Biology:Animal latrine|midden]]s and [[Biology:Territory (animal)|territorial]] markers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ci.manhattan.ks.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=6468 |title=Document: Krestel |publisher=City of Manhattan, Kansas |access-date=11 February 2012}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[Biology:Seed|Seed]]s also may be found in feces. Animals who eat [[Biology:Fruit|fruit]] are known as frugivores. An advantage for a plant in having fruit is that animals will eat the fruit and unknowingly disperse the seed in doing so. This mode of [[Earth:Seed dispersal|seed dispersal]] is highly successful, as seeds dispersed around the base of a plant are unlikely to succeed and often are subject to heavy [[Biology:Seed predation|predation]]. Provided the seed can withstand the pathway through the digestive system, it is not only likely to be far away from the parent plant, but is even provided with its own fertilizer.

Organisms that subsist on dead organic matter or ''[[Earth:Detritus|detritus]]'' are known as [[Biology:Detritivore|detritivore]]s, and play an important role in ecosystems by recycling organic matter back into a simpler form that plants and other [[Biology:Autotroph|autotroph]]s may absorb once again. This cycling of matter is known as the [[Biology:Biogeochemical cycle|biogeochemical cycle]]. To maintain nutrients in soil it is therefore important that feces returns to the area from which they came, which is not always the case in human society where food may be transported from rural areas to urban populations and then feces disposed of into a river or sea.

==Human feces==
{{main|Medicine:Human feces}}

Depending on the individual and the circumstances, human beings may defecate several times a day, every day, or once every two or three days. Extensive hardening of the feces that interrupts this routine for several days or more is called [[Medicine:Constipation|constipation]].

The appearance of human fecal matter varies according to diet and health.<ref name="Stromberg2015">{{Cite web |title=Everybody poops. But here are 9 surprising facts about feces you may not know. |last=Stromberg |first=Joseph |work=Vox |date=22 January 2015 |access-date=3 December 2019 |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/1/22/7871579/poop-feces |archive-date=17 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117130338/https://www.vox.com/2015/1/22/7871579/poop-feces |url-status=live}}</ref> Normally it is semisolid, with a [[Biology:Mucus|mucus]] coating. A combination of [[Biology:Bile|bile]] and [[Chemistry:Bilirubin|bilirubin]], which comes from dead red blood cells, gives feces the typical brown color.<ref name=tortora1 /><ref name=ciba />

After the meconium, the first stool expelled, a newborn's feces contains only [[Biology:Bile|bile]], which gives it a yellow-green color. Breast feeding babies expel soft, pale yellowish, and not quite malodorous matter; but once the baby begins to eat, and the body starts expelling bilirubin from dead red blood cells, its matter acquires the familiar brown color.<ref name=ciba />

At different times in their life, human beings will expel feces of different colors and textures. A stool that passes rapidly through the intestines will look greenish; lack of bilirubin will make the stool look like clay.

== Uses of animal feces ==

===Fertilizer===
The feces of animals, e.g. [[Earth:Guano|guano]] and [[Chemistry:Manure|manure]], often are used as [[Chemistry:Fertilizer|fertilizer]].<ref>{{Ullmann|doi=10.1002/14356007.n10_n01|title=Fertilizers, 2. Types|year=2009|last1=Dittmar|first1=Heinrich|last2=Drach|first2=Manfred|last3=Vosskamp|first3=Ralf|last4=Trenkel|first4=Martin E.|last5=Gutser|first5=Reinhold|last6=Steffens|first6=Günter|isbn=978-3527306732}}</ref>

===Energy ===
Dry animal dung, such as that of camel, [[Biology:Bison|bison]] and [[Biology:Cattle|cattle]], is burned as fuel in many countries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://stcwa.org.au/ |title=STCWA |access-date=16 March 2021 |archive-date=13 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313065242/http://stcwa.org.au/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Animals such as the [[Biology:Giant panda|giant panda]]<ref name="Handwerk2013">{{Cite web |title=Panda Poop Might Help Turn Plants Into Fuel |last=Handwerk |first=Brian |work=National Geographic |date=11 September 2013 |access-date=3 December 2019 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/09/130910-panda-poop-might-help-turn-plants-into-fuel/ |archive-date=3 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203070716/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/09/130910-panda-poop-might-help-turn-plants-into-fuel/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Biology:Zebra|zebra]]<ref name="Ray2011">{{Cite web |title=Cars Could Run on Recycled Newspaper, Tulane Scientists Say |last=Ray |first=Kathryn Hobgood |work=Tulane News |date=25 August 2011 |access-date=3 December 2019 |url=https://news.tulane.edu/pr/cars-could-run-recycled-newspaper-tulane-scientists-say |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304214914/https://news.tulane.edu/pr/cars-could-run-recycled-newspaper-tulane-scientists-say |url-status=live}}</ref> possess gut bacteria capable of producing biofuel. The bacterium in question, [[Biology:Brocadia anammoxidans|Brocadia anammoxidans]], can be used to synthesize the rocket fuel [[Chemistry:Hydrazine|hydrazine]].<ref name="Handwerk2005">{{Cite web |title=Bacteria Eat Human Sewage, Produce Rocket Fuel |last=Handwerk |first=Brian |work=National Geographic News |via=wildsingapore.com |date=9 November 2005 |access-date=3 December 2019 |url=http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/20051112/051109-5.htm |archive-date=13 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313110748/http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/20051112/051109-5.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmc=3264106 |pmid=22138989 |doi=10.1128/AEM.07113-11 |volume=78 |issue=3 |title=Hydrazine synthase, a unique phylomarker with which to study the presence and biodiversity of anammox bacteria |year=2012 |journal=Appl. Environ. Microbiol. |pages=752–8 |last1=Harhangi |first1=HR |last2=Le Roy |first2=M |last3=van Alen |first3=T |last4=Hu |first4=BL |last5=Groen |first5=J |last6=Kartal |first6=B |last7=Tringe |first7=SG |last8=Quan |first8=ZX |last9=Jetten |first9=MS |last10=Op |last11=den Camp |first11=HJ |bibcode=2012ApEnM..78..752H}}</ref>

=== Coprolites and paleofeces ===

A coprolite is fossilized feces and is classified as a [[Biology:Trace fossil|trace fossil]]. In [[Biology:Paleontology|paleontology]] they give evidence about the diet of an animal. They were first described by William Buckland in 1829. Prior to this, they were known as "fossil [[Conifer cone#Pinaceae cones|fir cone]]s" and "bezoar stones". They serve a valuable purpose in paleontology because they provide direct evidence of the predation and diet of extinct organisms.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/coprolite |title=Definition of coprolite &#124; Dictionary.com |website=dictionary.com |access-date=16 March 2021 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109120934/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/coprolite |url-status=live}}</ref> Coprolites may range in size from a few millimetres to more than 60 centimetres.

Palaeofeces are ancient [[Medicine:Human feces|feces]], often found as part of [[Earth:Archaeology|archaeological]] excavations or surveys. Intact paleofeces of ancient people may be found in caves in arid climates and in other locations with suitable preservation conditions. These are studied to determine the diet and health of the people who produced them through the analysis of seeds, small bones, and parasite eggs found inside. Feces may contain information about the person excreting the material as well as information about the material. They also may be analyzed chemically for more in-depth information on the individual who excreted them, using [[Chemistry:Lipid|lipid]] analysis and ancient [[Biology:DNA|DNA]] analysis. The success rate of usable DNA extraction is relatively high in paleofeces, making it more reliable than skeletal DNA retrieval.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Poinar |first1=Hendrik N. |display-authors=0 |date=10 April 2001 |title=A Molecular Analysis of Dietary Diversity for Three Archaic Native Americans |journal=PNAS |volume=98 |issue=8 |pages=4317–4322 |doi=10.1073/pnas.061014798 |pmc=31832 |pmid=11296282 |bibcode=2001PNAS...98.4317P |doi-access=free}}</ref>
  
The reason this analysis is possible at all is due to the digestive system not being entirely efficient, in the sense that not everything that passes through the digestive system is destroyed. Not all of the surviving material is recognizable, but some of it is. Generally, this material is the best indicator archaeologists can use to determine ancient diets, as no other part of the archaeological record is so direct an indicator.<ref name="Feder2008">{{cite book |last=Feder |first=Kenneth L. |title=Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XEFsPwAACAAJ |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533117-2 |access-date=3 December 2019 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801124206/https://books.google.com/books?id=XEFsPwAACAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>

A process that preserves feces in a way that they may be analyzed later is the [[Chemistry:Maillard reaction|Maillard reaction]]. This reaction creates a casing of sugar that preserves the feces from the elements. To extract and analyze the information contained within, researchers generally have to freeze the feces and grind it up into powder for analysis.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stokstad |first=Erik |date=28 July 2000 |title=Divining Diet and Disease From DNA |journal=Science |volume=289 |issue=5479 |pages=530–531 |doi=10.1126/science.289.5479.530 |pmid=10939960 |s2cid=83373644}}</ref>

===Other uses===

[[File:Pet Waste Station.jpg|thumb|A pet waste station in Tucker, Georgia, US]]

Animal dung occasionally is used as a cement to make [[Engineering:Adobe|adobe]] [[Engineering:Mudbrick|mudbrick]] huts,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs34d.htm |title=Your Home Technical Manual – 3.4d Construction Systems – Mud Brick (Adobe) |access-date=9 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706132354/http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs34d.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=6 July 2007}}</ref> or even in throwing sports, especially with cow and camel dung.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200307/s900527.htm |title=Dung Throwing contests |website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011200318/http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200307/s900527.htm |archive-date=11 October 2007}}</ref>

''Kopi luwak'' (pronounced {{IPA-may|ˈkopi ˈlu.aʔ|}}), or "civet coffee", is coffee made from coffee berries that have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the [[Biology:Asian palm civet|Asian palm civet]] (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''). Giant pandas provide fertilizer for the world's most expensive [[Biology:Green tea|green tea]].<ref name="huffpo"/> In Malaysia, tea is made from the droppings of stick insects fed on [[Biology:Guava|guava]] leaves.

In northern Thailand, [[Biology:Elephant|elephant]]s are used to digest coffee beans in order to make Black Ivory coffee, which is among the world's most expensive coffees. [[Chemistry:Paper|Paper]] is also made from elephant dung in Thailand.<ref name="huffpo">{{cite news |author=Topper, R |date=15 October 2012 |title=Elephant Dung Coffee: World's Most Expensive Brew Is Made With Pooped-Out Beans |newspaper=HuffPost |access-date=10 December 2012 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/elephant-dung-coffee-black-ivory_n_1968096.html |archive-date=3 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903050156/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/elephant-dung-coffee-black-ivory_n_1968096.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Haathi Chaap is a brand of paper made from elephant dung.

[[Biology:Dog|Dog]] feces was used in the tanning process of leather during the [[History:Victorian era|Victorian era]]. Collected dog feces, known as "pure", "puer", or "pewer",<ref>{{OED|pure|id=154843}} n., 6</ref> were mixed with water to form a substance known as "bate", because proteolytic [[Biology:Enzyme|enzyme]]s in the dog feces helped to relax the fibrous structure of the hide before the final stages of tanning.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rohmhaas.com/history/ourstory/innovation_leatherbreakthrough.htm |title=Rohm and Haas Innovation - The Leather Breakthrough |publisher=Rohmhaas.com |date=1 September 1909 |access-date=27 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019175930/http://www.rohmhaas.com/history/ourstory/innovation_leatherbreakthrough.htm |archive-date=19 October 2012}}</ref> Dog feces collectors were known as ''pure finders''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Steven |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70483471 |title=The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world |date=2006 |publisher=Riverhead Books |isbn=1-59448-925-4 |location=New York |oclc=70483471 |access-date=21 February 2021 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304214913/https://www.worldcat.org/title/ghost-map-the-story-of-londons-most-terrifying-epidemic-and-how-it-changed-science-cities-and-the-modern-world/oclc/70483471 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Elephants, [[Biology:Hippopotamus|hippos]], [[Biology:Koala|koala]]s and pandas are born with sterile intestines, and require bacteria obtained from eating the feces of their mothers to digest vegetation.

In India, [[Biology:Cow dung|cow dung]] and [[Chemistry:Cow urine|cow urine]] are major ingredients of the traditional Hindu drink ''[[Unsolved:Panchagavya|Panchagavya]]''. Politician Shankarbhai Vegad stated that they can cure [[Medicine:Cancer|cancer]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cow-urine-can-cure-cancer-bjp-member-in-rs/article7012010.ece |title=Cow dung, urine can cure cancer: BJP MP |date=19 March 2015 |access-date=17 September 2019 |last=Ramachandran |first=Smriti Kak |newspaper=The Hindu |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001081243/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cow-urine-can-cure-cancer-bjp-member-in-rs/article7012010.ece |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Terminology ==
[[File:Cyclosia papilionaris by Kadavoor.JPG|thumb|''[[Biology:Cyclosia papilionaris|Cyclosia papilionaris]]'' consuming bird droppings]]

''Feces'' is the scientific terminology, while the term ''stool'' is also commonly used in medical contexts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/stool |title=stool |via=The Free Dictionary |access-date=18 April 2017 |archive-date=11 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311062946/http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/stool |url-status=live}}</ref> Outside of scientific contexts, these terms are less common, with the most common layman's term being ''poop'' or ''poo''. The term ''shit'' is also in common use, although it is widely considered vulgar or offensive. There are many other terms, see below.

=== Etymology ===
The word ''faeces'' is the plural of the [[Social:Latin|Latin]] word ''faex'' meaning "dregs". In most English-language usage, there is no singular form, making the word a plurale tantum;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3400 |title=Feces definition – Medical Dictionary definitions of popular medical terms easily defined on MedTerms |publisher=Medterms.com |date=19 March 2012 |access-date=11 November 2013 |archive-date=11 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111175053/http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3400 |url-status=live}}</ref> out of various major dictionaries, only one enters variation from plural agreement.<ref name="AHD">{{Citation |author=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |url=https://ahdictionary.com/ |postscript=. |access-date=17 March 2015 |archive-date=25 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925104737/https://ahdictionary.com/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Synonyms===
"Feces" is used more in biology and medicine than in other fields (reflecting [[Science|science]]'s tradition of classical Latin and Neo-Latin)
*In hunting and tracking, terms such as ''dung'', ''scat'', ''spoor'', and ''droppings'' normally are used to refer to non-human animal feces
*In husbandry and farming, ''[[Chemistry:Manure|manure]]'' is common.
*''Stool'' is a common term in reference to [[Medicine:Human feces|human feces]]. For example, in [[Medicine:Medicine|medicine]], to diagnose the presence or absence of a medical condition, a stool sample sometimes is requested for testing purposes.<ref>{{cite web |author=Steven Dowshen, MD |url=http://kidshealth.org/parent/system/medical/test_bac_culture.html |title=Stool Test: Bacteria Culture |publisher=Kidshealth |date=September 2011 |access-date=11 February 2012 |archive-date=19 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219213101/http://kidshealth.org/parent/system/medical/test_bac_culture.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
*The term ''bowel movement(s)'' (with each movement a defecation event) is also common in [[Medicine:Health care|health care]].

There are many synonyms in informal [[Social:Register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] for feces, just like there are for [[Biology:Urine|urine]]. Many are [[Social:Euphemism|euphem]]istic, [[Social:Colloquialism|colloquial]], or both; some are profane (such as ''shit''), whereas most belong chiefly to [[Social:Baby talk|child-directed speech]] (such as ''poo'' or the palindromic word ''poop''<!-- That is enough examples; this list is not meant to be exhaustive -->) or to crude humor (such as ''crap'', ''dump'', ''load'' and ''turd''.<!-- That is enough examples; this list is not meant to be exhaustive -->).

[[File:Badaia - Heces de caballo 02.jpg|thumb|[[Biology:Horse|Horse]] feces]]

=== Feces of animals ===
The feces of animals often have special names (some of them are slang), for example:
*Non-human animals
**As bulk material &ndash; dung
**Individually &ndash; droppings
*[[Biology:Cattle|Cattle]]
**Bulk material &ndash; [[Biology:Cow dung|cow dung]]
**Individual droppings &ndash; cow pats, meadow muffins, etc.
*[[Biology:Deer|Deer]] (and formerly other quarry animals) &ndash; fewmets
* Wild [[Biology:Carnivora|carnivore]]s &ndash; scat 
*[[Biology:Otter|Otter]] &ndash; spraint
*[[Biology:Bird|Bird]]s (individual) &ndash; droppings (also include urine as white crystals of [[Chemistry:Uric acid|uric acid]])
*Seabirds or [[Biology:Bat|bat]]s (large accumulations) &ndash; [[Earth:Guano|guano]]
*Herbivorous [[Biology:Insect|insect]]s, such as [[Biology:Caterpillar|caterpillar]]s and [[Biology:Leaf beetle|leaf beetle]]s &ndash; [[Biology:Frass|frass]]
*[[Biology:Earthworm|Earthworm]]s, lugworms etc. &ndash; worm castings (feces extruded at ground surface)
*Feces when used as [[Chemistry:Fertilizer|fertilizer]] (usually mixed with animal bedding and urine) &ndash; [[Chemistry:Manure|manure]]
*Horses &ndash; horse manure, roadapple (before motor vehicles became common, horse droppings were a big part of the rubbish communities needed to clean off roads)

== Society and culture ==
[[File:NoPoopHoustonTX.jpg|thumb|upright|Sign ordering owners to clean up after pets, Houston, Texas, 2011]]

===Feelings of disgust===
{{Main|Medicine:Human feces}}
In all human cultures, feces elicit varying degrees of [[Philosophy:Disgust|disgust]] in adults. Children under two years typically have no disgust response to it, suggesting it is culturally derived.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Alison M. |title=Coprophagy in nineteenth-century psychiatry |journal=Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease |date=8 November 2018 |volume=30 |issue=sup1 |pages=1535737 |doi=10.1080/16512235.2018.1535737 |pmid=30425610 |pmc=6225515}}</ref> Disgust toward feces appears to be strongest in cultures where flush toilets make olfactory contact with human feces minimal.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.upworthy.com/yes-poop-is-gross-but-thats-not-the-only-reason-for-its-shameful-social-stigma |title=Yes, poop is gross. But that's not the only reason for its shameful social stigma. |date=25 May 2016 |website=Upworthy |access-date=8 April 2020 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731052613/https://www.upworthy.com/yes-poop-is-gross-but-thats-not-the-only-reason-for-its-shameful-social-stigma |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20131111-hate-poo-theres-good-reason-why |title=Why do humans hate poo so much? |first=Jason G. |last=Goldman |publisher=BBC |access-date=8 April 2020 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331004423/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131111-hate-poo-theres-good-reason-why |url-status=live}}</ref> Disgust is experienced primarily in relation to the sense of taste (either perceived or imagined) and, secondarily to anything that causes a similar feeling by sense of smell, touch, or vision.

=== Social media ===
There is a Pile of Poo emoji represented in [[Unicode]] as {{unichar|1F4A9|pile of poo}}, called ''{{vanchor|unchi}}'' or ''unchi-kun'' in Japan.<ref>{{citation |title=The Oral History Of The Poop Emoji (Or, How Google Brought Poop To America) |date=18 November 2014 |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3037803/the-oral-history-of-the-poop-emoji-or-how-google-brought-poop-to-america |work=Fast Company |access-date=9 November 2016 |archive-date=3 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403070613/https://www.fastcompany.com/3037803/the-oral-history-of-the-poop-emoji-or-how-google-brought-poop-to-america |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=America Needs its own Emojis |date=7 March 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/opinion/sunday/turn-emojis-red-white-and-blue.html |first=Damon |last=Darlin |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=1 March 2017 |archive-date=30 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030180735/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/opinion/sunday/turn-emojis-red-white-and-blue.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
===Jokes ===
Poop is the center of [[Engineering:Toilet humour|toilet humor]], and is commonly an interest of young children and teenagers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Praeger |first=Dave |title=Poop Culture: How America Is Shaped by Its Grossest National Product |publisher=Feral House |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-932595-21-5 |location=United States |language=English}}</ref> 

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="200" heights="140" caption="Feces samples">
File:BearApplePoop.JPG|Bear scat
File:Mixedplasticbearpoo.jpg|Bear scat showing consumption of [[Chemistry:Bin bag|bin bag]]s
File:Kasuar fg1.jpg|The [[Biology:Cassowary|cassowary]] disperses plant seeds via its feces
File:Earthworm faeces.jpg|[[Biology:Earthworm|Earthworm]] feces aids in provision of minerals and plant nutrients in an accessible form
File:Avföring - Fågelspillning - Ystad-2015.jpg|Feces from different seabirds.
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Biology:Coprophagia|Coprophagia]]
* Coprophilia
* Coprophilous fungi
* [[Biology:Cow dung|Cow dung]]
* [[Biology:Excretory system|Excretory system]]
* [[Chemistry:Fecal microbiota|Fecal microbiota]]
* [[Biology:Fecal plug|Fecal plug]]
* Jenkem
* [[Chemistry:Manure|Manure]]
* [[Biology:Metabolic waste|Metabolic waste]]
* [[Earth:Night soil|Night soil]]
* [[Engineering:Sanitation|Sanitation]]
* Scatology
* [[Biology:Whale feces|Whale feces]]
* Zooplankton fecal pellets
{{colend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Feces}}
* [http://www.medfriendly.com/feces.html MedFriendly's Article on Feces]


[[Category:Animal physiology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Feces}}