Different types of animals eat different types of food: carnivores eat meat, herbivores eat plants, and omnivores eat both plants and meat.
Examples of animals with more specialized diets include frugivores (fruit eaters); and folios (leaf eaters). On this page you will find facts on carnivores, omnivores and herbivores, as well as many examples of more specialized animal diets.
Nutrients Index Pages Autotrophs Vs Heterotrophs Carnivores Herbivores Omnivores Animal Diets Specialist Insectivores Vegetation Specialist Vegetation Animals Insectivores MyrmecophagyMolluscivoreOphiopagyPiscivoreSpongivoraFermivoreToriivoreIvoryXylophagyFungivoreBacterivoreAnimalDietsOtherAnimals IdentitiesRecognizedAnimalsReviewCoroprophagesNutrients All organisms, be they animals, plants, fungi, or even single-celled life forms such as bacteria, need the nutrients in food to survive. Nutrients provide an organism with both energy and material from which new cells can be made.
They contain vital substances such as protein, minerals, carbohydrates and vitamins. Without food, an animal would not have the energy to breathe and move, or the material needed to grow, repair or reproduce itself. Autotrophs Vs Heterotrophs The herbivorous Uinta chipmunk eats seeds from cones.
All animals depend on plants either directly (like this chipmunk) or indirectly (the chipmunk’s predators). Organisms like plants are autotrophic, meaning they produce their own food. Plants do this through photosynthesis – a process in which energy is made from the sun. You can find more information about photosynthesis on this page: Photosynthesis Facts Animals are heterotrophs.
Heterotrophic organisms are unable to produce their own food, so they must eat organic matter (living organisms or the remains of living organisms) to obtain the nutrients needed for life. eat plants, which are organic. An animal is described as a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore depending on the type of food it eats. Carnivore = meat eater Herbivore = plant eater Omnivore = eats meat and plants All animals – even carnivores – depend on autotrophs such as plants or algae; Although carnivores don’t eat plants themselves, their prey does! You can find more information on the relationship between plants and different types of animals on this page: What is an Ecosystem? Below, we look at these three main types of animals, then look at the more specialized eaters, including folios (leaves), frugivores (fruit eaters) and animals that practice coprification (you never know!). see more A carnivore is an animal that eats other animals.
(You can see more on this page: Examples of Insectivores) Predators are carnivores that hunt prey; scavengers are carnivores that eat carrion (animal remains). An apex predator is a predator that has no predators of its own.
Click on the image to see more apex predators. The ancestors of amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds were all carnivores.
The first tetrapods were amphipods, piscivorous (fish-eating) animals. The earliest reptiles and earliest mammals are thought to have been insects.
(Mesocarnivores and subcarnivores can also be called omnivores.) Obligate carnivores are animals (such as cats) that require nutrients found only in animal flesh, and are unable to break down plant material. Predatory carnivores have adaptations such as strength, speed, face-. Adaptations for scavengers include a keen sense of smell to find food, tough teeth or claws to tear food apart, and a strong digestive system to break up bones and/or rotting flesh.
(Examples of scavengers include vultures and striped and brown hyenas.) You can see examples of carnivores on this page: Examples of Insects Back to page index What Animals Eat – Herbivores Examples of Herbivores – click on the image to see more Herbivores are animals, or plant eaters whose diet consists entirely or mainly of plants.
(You can see more examples of herbivores on this page: Examples of Herbivores.) Plant material is often tough and fibrous, and contains little energy.
Therefore, herbivores require specialized adaptations to obtain the necessary nutrients from plants. Rodents have incisors (front teeth) that grow continuously (and therefore do not wear down); Cattle and many other ungulates have multi-chambered stomachs and regurgitate their food as a pulse for further chewing in order to obtain adequate nutrition from the tough, low-energy food.
Like all cattle, it is a ruminant with a multi-chambered stomach that enables it to obtain the nutrients it needs from the grass. It has characteristics like herbivores that are prey animals, such as acuity to detect predators, and speed and agility to escape from predators. You can see examples of herbivores on this page: Examples of Herbivores Back to page index What Animals Eat – Professors Examples of Omnivores – click on the image to see more Omnivores are animals that have -a diet consisting of both animal and plant matter.
Omnivorous birds, such as crows, lack the spires of birds of prey. Omnivores such as the common raven are very adaptable, able to eat a wide variety of plants and animal food. You can see examples of omnivores on the page this: Examples of omnivoresback to index page Animal Diets Specialist Carnivore SpecialistAvivoreThe peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world.
Its great speed allows it to catch other birds. The living bird is a carnivore that focuses on eating birds.
Examples of birds include several birds of prey, including the sparrow – a medium-sized hawk named for its bird-like behavior, and the peregrine falcon – the fastest animal in the world. it is an animal that eats coral.
Examples of corallivores include species from several animal groups, including the crown-of-thorns starfish, and several species of butterfly and parrotfish. Back to index page SanguivoreVampire bats feed on the blood of other animals. A sanguivore is an animal that feeds on blood
The behavior of feeding on blood is called hematophagy. Back to page indexInsectivore The aardvark is an insectivore that preys on ants and termites (so it is also a myrmecophage).
Examples of insects include birds such as hummingbirds and bee-eaters, amphibians such as tree frogs, and mammals such as the aardvark.Back to page index MyrmecophagyGiant anteater, one of the four living species of anteater. and termites.
Examples of myrmcophages include the wolf, the aardvark, the four species or anteater, the short-beaked echidna and the pangolins. Back to page index Molluscivore The bullet plays on molluscs (and a variety of other animals). A molluscivore is an animal that eats molluscs.
Examples of molluscs include the walrus, which eats clams and other bivalves, the walrus, a bird that displays its feeding habits, and the rosy wolf snail (Euglandina rosea), a predatory snail that preys on snails and other snails. examples of molluscs on this page: Molluscs ExamplesBack to page index Ophiopagy The Indian gray mongoose is famous as a snake hunter.
Animals that exhibit ophiophagy include mongooses (a family (Herpestidae) of eel-like mammals found in the Old World that are resistant to the snake gene), snake eagles (birds of prey belonging to the family Circaetinae), and the secret bird (a long-legged bird of prey found in Africa). Back to Piscivore index page Bottlenose dolphins prey on fish. A piscivore is an animal that eats fish.
Examples of piscivores include birds such as the eagle, Blakiston’s fish owl (the world’s largest owl), ospreys and quacks; and mammals such as the fishing cat, the Eurasian otter, the giant otter and the bottlenose dolphin. Back to the index page SpongivoreSponges make up the majority of the sea turtle’s diet A spongivore is an animal that eats sponges.
Examples of sponges include the hawksbill sea turtle, and sponges that eat sponges in their larvae. Back to index page VermivoreMoles are worms that eat worms. A vermivore is an animal that eats worms.
Examples of vegetarians include voles (small rodent-like animals), moles and long-beaked echidnas. Back to page index Specialist Herbivores Exudativore The yellow-bellied goby eats the sap that comes out of the holes it drills into trees. . on plant exudates (fluids emitted by plants), including sap, gum, latex and resin.
Examples of animals that are eutrophicators include sapsuckers (a group of North American woodpeckers), and aphids, a group of insects that includes insects called greenflies and blackflies. eats leaves.
Examples of folios include the hoatzin, a bird found in the rainforests of South America, and the koala, an Australian marsupial that feeds almost exclusively on eucalyptus leaves. Back to Frugivore page index Male Sumatran orangutan.
Examples of frugivores include orangutans, the coconut crab, toucans, hornbills, and megawatts like the Indian flying fox. Back to page index GranivoreFinches like the hawthorn to eat seeds.
Examples of great ancients include finches (birds of the Fringillidae, including species such as the goldfinch and the robin), and the wood mouse, a small rodent found in Europe and North Africa. Back to index thepageNectarivoreBroad-tailed hummingbird using its specialized bill and long tongue to feed on nectar. A nectarivore is an animal that feeds on nectar – a sweet fluid that flowers produce to encourage pollinators to visit.
Examples of nectarivores include birds such as hummingbirds and sunbirds (both of which have long bills to collect nectar); and bats such as the long-tongued nectar bat. Back to page index Xylophagy North American beavers feeding on wood. A xylophage is an animal that feeds on wood.
Examples of xylophagous animals include bark beetles; woodworking beetles such as the common furniture beetle and death watch beetle; drywood termites, and Beavers.Back to index page Fungivore Leafy gather leaves not for themselves, but to feed a fungus that provides food for the colony.A fungus is an animal that feeds on fungi.
Ambrosia beetles also create “fungus gardens” on which they feed.
Examples of bacteria include nematodes and unicellular amoebae. Back to page index Other Animal Diets Millipedes feed on organic waste. A detritivore is an animal that feeds on detritus (non-living organic matter).
Examples of detritivores include earthworms and millipedes. Back to index page CoprphagyDung beetle rolling dung ball. Coprphagy is eating feces.