Each group of animals have your own diet. Some eat fruit, some eat only meat, and some eat whatever they can find. Sometimes an animal feeds on exactly the same thing as another species, causing an ecological relationship known as competition.
You may have noticed, for example, that after a very long period without food, we become weak, dizzy and sometimes even faint. This is because it is from food that we and all other animals get the energy needed to carry out our activities and for our bodies to continue functioning normally. Without food, we run out of energy.
Animals can be classified according to the type of food they eat into:
- herbivores,
- carnivores and
- omnivores.
Read too:What is the difference between chain and food web?
herbivorous animals
Herbivorous animals are those that feed only on vegetables. Some of these animals eat the whole plant, others have a preference for specific parts, such as you fruits, at roots, the nectar or the sheets. Animals that feed only:
- of fruits are called frugivores, and
- of seeds are called granivores.
Herbivorous animals are considered the primary consumers in a food chain, as they feed on producers (vegetables). THE ecological relationship where an animal eats a vegetable is called a herbivory.
Like examples of herbivorous animals, we can mention
- the cow,
- the deer,
- the grasshopper,
- the butterfly,
- the zebra,
- the elephant,
- The giraffe, between others.
To learn more about this type of food, read the text: herbivorous animals.
carnivorous animals
Carnivorous animals are those that only feed on other animals. Depending on the animal a species eats, it may receive a special denomination. For example, if an animal feeds:
- of fish, he is called a piscivore;
- of insects, it is called an insectivore;
- of already dead animals (corpses), we say that he is a scavenger.
Predation is the name of the ecological relationship in which an animal feeds on another animal. When they feed on the same species, we say that it occurs cannibalism. As examples of carnivorous animals, we can mention:
- O Lion,
- the Tiger,
- O shark,
- The Jaguar,
- The snake,
- the praying mantis, among others.
omnivorous animals
Omnivorous animals are animals that feed on everything, eat vegetables and other animals as well. Does this type of food sound familiar? That's right! We are omnivorous animals, as well as:
- the pig,
- O Guara wolf,
- the tortoise,
- the meerkat, among others.
Find out more information about this type of animal by reading the text: omnivorous animals.
Adaptations of animals to different diets
Each animal has a digestive system that differs according to the type of food you eat. Some carnivores, such as the lion, have sharp teeth, called fangs, which are used to tear at their victim's flesh. Some herbivores, such as cattle, have a digestive system that allows the breakdown of cellulose, making the digestion process more efficient.
Some insects have a mouthpiece that specializes in cutting, sucking, or crushing. Therefore, it is clear that each animal is perfectly adapted to its feeding mode.
