In the U.S., it’s Thanksgiving, which means today is all about the Turkey. So here’s a fun fact you may not have heard to chew on as you masticate your meal: you can tell a turkey’s sex by it’s poop.
That’s right — male turkeys and female turkeys crap different turds. The toms’ feces are long and skinny, while the hens’ are coily little clumps.
A tale of two poos. (Credit: Figure 1 from Bailey, 1956. Reproduced with permission from the publisher.)
Figure 1 from Bailey, 1956. Reproduced with permission from the publisher.
While it might seem strange that males and females would have such different bowel movements, it makes a lot more sense when you consider their anatomy.
The quirk of clumping results from the fact that turkeys, like many birds, expel their droppings from a multi-functional orifice also used for reproduction. Separation of the terminal ends of their ...
