On: Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frog...

[thaumasiotes]

> Also, a way for the intestinal flora of frogs to be spread to other frogs.

> Which may be fairly unique in itself?

Considering the number of diseases that are spread, human to human, by oral consumption of feces - probably not.

[akiselev → thaumasiotes]

There are mammals like rabbits that eat their own feces to get a second pass at digestion. Evolution has created an unbelievable amount of diversity in the natural world - it's a mistake to judge it by our own immune systems.

[buran77 → akiselev]

GP may have been objecting to the uniqueness of the trait, not its existence.

[justinclift → buran77]

Nah, I'd just not been able to think off hand of an example of intestinal flora being shared (potentially widely) among members of a species.

The rabbits example is a good one to illustrate it already does happen. :)

[thaumasiotes → justinclift]

Again, it is already known to be very common in humans.

[justinclift → thaumasiotes]

You seem to be saying oral consumption of other people's faeces is common in humans. What's the evidence for this?

Personally, I'm aware of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_feces#Fecal_transplants, but that's all.

[thaumasiotes → justinclift]

It is the only reproductive strategy of several major diseases, most notably cholera. So yes, obviously it is common. You know how cholera is notorious for spreading through communities very quickly? Guess how that happens.

Intentional consumption of other people's feces is rare, but that's not relevant to anything. If you eat something, it doesn't matter at all whether you wanted to eat it.

[justinclift → thaumasiotes]

Interesting, thanks. :)