We know that a host of creatures — from whales, to snakes, to sloths — pass gas. But do we know which animal is the top tooter? Experts told Live Science the answer is blowing in the wind.
What we can do is hypothesize using the data we do have. Expelled gas is made partially of methane, so comparing methane emissions produced by different species may provide a clue. However, this method does have limitations, experts pointed out.
Research points to livestock, especially cows, as major methane emitters. A recent report puts their total methane emissions at 117 teragrams per year. (One teragram is equal to 1 billion kilograms, or 2.2 billion pounds.) A buildup of cow-generated methane gas even caused a dairy shed in Germany to explode. However, contrary to what many people believe, the "overwhelming majority" of methane emissions from livestock is released through burping, not flatulence, Ermias Kebreab, a professor of animal science at the University of California, Davis, told Live Science in an email.
Cows and other ruminants (such as buffalo, sheep, goats and camels) ferment their food in a chamber called the rumen, located near the front of the digestive system, so most of the methane they produce is through belching, Matthew Hayek, an associate professor of environmental studies at New York University, told Live Science in an email.
Are cows really the top contender for animal farts? (Image credit: Lucas Ninno/Getty Images)
One possible contender are termites, which break down wood and grass in their hindguts. Their global population is estimated to be around 27 quadrillion (that's 15 zeros) individuals, and they collectively emit 10 teragrams of methane per year.
However, Clauss is skeptical. "The ranking of horse as highest is only because it has been measured," he told Live Science in an email. "But there are so many hindgut fermenters not measured, like rhino ... Who knows?"
Clauss also questioned the accuracy of using methane emissions data as an indicator of flatulence. "There is some methane in flatulence, but most likely the majority of methane produced by an animal is exhaled, i.e. it goes via blood to the lungs," he said.
Does animal flatulence contribute to climate change?
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But animal flatulence is not a major contributor to global methane increases, Hayek said.
"Their emissions are part of the natural cycle of methane that has always been there for millennia," Arndt added. "The increasing methane concentrations in the atmosphere that are leading to climate change are caused by humans."
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