Carnivores are animals or plants that derive food and energy from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat, and other soft tissues), or are animals and plants that feed on the flesh of animals. Most but not
all carnivores are members of the order Carnivores, and also, not every member From the order of carnivores, it is considered a carnivore.
What are carnivorous plants
There are more than 600 species of carnivorous plants, according to the American Botanical Society, and carnivorous plants get their food by catching and digesting insects, and sometimes through
tadpoles and mammals, because the most common prey for most carnivorous plants are insects in In the first place, therefore, plants are called insectivores.
While most plants absorb nitrogen from the soil through their roots, carnivorous plants obtain nitrogen from animals that prey on them, which they capture through their mutated leaves.
Plants catch their prey in different ways. For example, the Venus flytrap has leaves that can The insect catches them through sensory hairs that look like thorns if
touched, then the leaves on the insect are suddenly closed, and there is also a pitcher plant that has something like a jar, as the plant bends its leaves inwards in a
deep jar full of digestive enzymes, and there is also a sundew plant As this plant has legs that contain a sticky mucous substance on which the insect sticks.
What are carnivores
There are three different types of carnivores, and each type has a diet that consists of varying levels of meat consumption.
Carnivores cannot properly digest plants.
For example, the cat family, which includes lions, tigers, and small cats, are carnivores. Carnivores feed primarily on meat, and their diet is at least 70% meat, and they are called Hypercarnivora.
Carnivores have heavy skulls with strong facial muscles to help grip prey, chop meat, and grind bones.
They also have strong molars and fangs that work together like scissors that allow them to cut flesh into slices.
Animals that depend on meat for at least 50% in their diet are called mesocarnivora, which can supplement their diet with fruits, vegetables, and fungi.
Most of these animals are small or medium in size and live near the environment in which humans live, such as raccoons, foxes, and there Also carnivores are animals that eat little meat, called Hippocarnivora, as they eat meat by 30% of their diet.
These animals eat meat, fish, berries, nuts and roots, and these animals are also considered carnivores, plants or grubs, and these animals have double teeth and large molars that are compatible with a varied diet.
Carnivores are part of the food web
Carnivores are the third trophic level of the food web. Along with carnivores and herbivores (gastropods), carnivores eat other carnivores, as well as eat herbivores and omnivores, depending on their species, according to National Geographic.
The carnivores at the top of the food web maintain the ecological balance when they eat the other animals they live with in the environment. If the carnivores are wiped out by plague, drought, human intervention or other factors, the area can suffer from overpopulation from other lower animals. in the food chain.
Sometimes carnivores are introduced to the area to help with the overpopulation problem of some animals, for example, wolves have been reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park to help with
the elk overpopulation problem, and in turn, this intervention has allowed woody plants to be replaced that were being consumed by Lots of elk, according to the University of Michigan.
Characteristics of carnivores
Although carnivores come in different shapes and sizes, they have common similarities.
Most animals have relatively large heads and high levels of intelligence.
They also have a less complex digestive system than herbivores.
Herbivores have multiple stomachs while carnivores Animals have one stomach, and warm-blooded carnivores tend to burn a lot more calories so they hunt and eat more often to maintain their energy levels, and cold-blooded carnivores use fewer calories, so they can last days And months without food between meals.