Coprophagia

Coprophagia or coprophagy (/kəˈprɒfədʒi/ kə-PROF-ə-jee) is the consumption of <a href="/facts/Feces/r9HDKB8G">feces</a>. The word is derived from the <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a> κόπρος kópros "feces" and φαγεῖν phageîn "to eat". Coprophagy refers to many kinds of feces-eating, including eating feces of other species (heterospecifics), of other individuals (allocoprophagy), or one's own (autocoprophagy). Feces may be already deposited or taken directly from the <a href="/facts/Anus/KoCBptr5">anus</a>.
In humans, coprophagia has been described since the late 19th century in individuals with mental illnesses and in some sexual acts, such as the practices of <a href="/facts/Anilingus/A0U5NbWp">anilingus</a> and <a href="/facts/Felching/b11VMNds">felching</a> where sex partners insert their tongue into each other's anus and ingest biologically significant amounts of feces. Some animal species eat feces as a normal behavior, whereas other species may eat feces <a href="/facts/List_of_abnormal_behaviours_in_animals/J6A5bJwH">under certain conditions</a>.

Coprophagia open-in-new

Coprophagia