The venom either paralyze s or kills the prey. Snakes such as king cobras have hollow fang s that act like needles to inject venom. Cobras mostly prey on other snakes.
Jellyfish have stingers on their tentacle s, which paralyze fish swimming nearby. Most carnivores are animals, but plants and fungi can be carnivores also. The Venus flytrap is a plant that catches insects in its leaves. When an insect brushes against the sensitive hairs on the leaf, the leaf folds in two and snaps shut.
The insect is trapped inside. Other carnivorous plants, such as the sundew , produce a sticky material that catches insects. Fungi are a group of organisms that include mushrooms, mold s, and mildew.
Some fungi trap and consume tiny organisms. Most carnivorous fungi prey on microscopic worms called nematode s, which they trap with suffocating rings. Diets Certain types of carnivores have specific diets. Some, such as sea lions, eat mainly fish. They are called piscivore s piscis is the Latin word for fish. Others, such as lizards, eat mainly insects.
They are called insectivore s. Many bats are also insectivores. One little brown bat can eat a thousand mosquitoes in an hour. Some insects are themselves insectivores. These include ladybugs, dragonflies, and praying mantises. Carnivores that have been known to attack and eat human beings are known as man-eater s. Some species of sharks, alligators, and bears are called man-eaters. However, no carnivore specifically hunts human beings or relies on them as a regular food source.
Cannibal s are carnivores that eat the meat of members of their own species. Many animals practice cannibalism. For some species, cannibalism is a way of eliminating competitors for food, mates, or other resources. Chimpanzees and bears, for example, will hunt and consume the young of family members, sometimes their own offspring. Praying mantis females will kill and eat the bodies of their mates. Many carnivores are scavenger s, creatures that eat the meat of dead animals, or carrion.
Unlike other types of carnivores, scavengers usually do not hunt the animals they eat. Some, such as vultures, consume animals that have died from natural causes. Others, such as hyenas, will snatch meat hunted by other carnivores. Many insects, such as flies and beetles, are scavengers. Some carnivores, including sea lions, feed often.
Others, such as king cobras, can go months between meals. Carnivores in the Food Chain For a healthy ecosystem , it is important that the populations of autotrophs, herbivores, and carnivores be in balance. Energy from nutrient s is lost at each trophic level. It takes many autotrophs to support a fewer number of herbivores. In turn, a single carnivore may have a home range of dozens or even hundreds of miles. A Siberian tiger, for instance, may patrol a range of 1, square kilometers square miles.
In some places, the disappearance of large carnivores has led to an overpopulation of herbivores, disrupting the ecosystem. Wolves and cougars are traditional predators of white-tailed deer, for instance. But hunting and development have eliminate d these predators from the northeastern United States. Without natural predators, the population of white-tailed deer has skyrocket ed.
In some areas, there are so many deer that they cannot find enough food. The researchers hypothesize that a lower channel density may have A research team has established their global geographic distribution using DNA data and a probabilistic model. Researchers have shown that it is possible to identify individual proteins with single-amino acid Owners may be underestimating their dog's Some major examples of crops with these so-called 'transgenes' include Reducing the Cost of Plant Improvement.
Print Email Share. Most Popular Stories. Different types of carnivores include:. You can find examples of carnivores in every ecosystem on earth.
Whether they live on land, in the water, or in the air, there is always a bigger animal waiting to prey on a smaller animal. Here are some examples for meat-eating animals and plants in different ecosystems. Land-dwelling carnivores have evolved for optimal hunting behavior. These adaptations include keen eyesight, bendable wrists for jumping after prey, and high levels of speed for outrunning animals.
Carnivores on the land may hunt other land-based animals, or they might catch swimming or flying animals as well. Each of these carnivores depend on smaller animals to hunt and eat as sustenance. However, the animals they hunt depend on their ecosystem. Raccoons and lions are both carnivores, for example, but raccoons eat insects and fish while lions hunt zebras and gazelles. Meat-eating animals live in the water, too. Both saltwater and freshwater carnivores get their food by hunting and eating fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and other herbivorous and omnivorous animals.
Though carnivores come in many shapes and sizes, they share a few similarities. Most carnivores have relatively large brains and high levels of intelligence. They also have less complicated digestive systems than herbivores. For example, many herbivores have multiple stomachs , while carnivores only have one, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
Though all carnivores eat meat at some level, the frequency of their feeding can vary. Warm-blooded carnivores tend to burn a lot of calories. Because of this, they have to hunt and eat often to keep to keep up their energy levels. Cold-blooded carnivores, on the other hand, use fewer calories and can rest days or even months between meals.
Carnivores sit at the third trophic level in the food web, along with omnivores. Carnivores eat other carnivores, as well as herbivores and omnivores, depending on their species, according to National Geographic. As the top tier of the food web, carnivores keep the populations of other animals in check. If a carnivore population is wiped out by disease, natural disasters, human intervention or other factors, an area can experience an overpopulation of other creatures lower in the food chain.
Sometimes, carnivores will be brought into an area to help with overpopulation of herbivores.
0コメント