herbivore

Examples of herbivore in the following topics:

• Herbivores, Omnivores, and Carnivores

  • Animals can be carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores in their eating strategies.
  • Herbivores are animals whose primary food source is plant-based.
  • Examples of herbivores include vertebrates like deer, koalas, and some bird species, as well as invertebrates such as crickets and caterpillars .
  • Many large herbivores have symbiotic bacteria within their guts to assist with the breakdown of cellulose.
  • Herbivores, such as this (a) mule deer and (b) monarch caterpillar, eat primarily plant material.

• Plant Defenses Against Herbivores

  • Plants defend against herbivores with mechanical wounding, barriers, secondary metabolites, and attraction of parasitoids.
  • Herbivores, both large and small, use plants as food and actively chew them.
  • Both protect plants against herbivores.
  • Other adaptations against herbivores include hard shells, thorns (modified branches), and spines (modified leaves).
  • Other alkaloids affect herbivores by causing either excessive stimulation (caffeine is one example) or the lethargy associated with opioids.

• Herbivory and Pollination

  • Coevolution of herbivores and plant defenses is observed in nature.
  • A sort of arms race exists between plants and herbivores.
  • To "combat" herbivores, some plant seeds (such as acorn and unripened persimmon) are high in alkaloids and, therefore, unsavory to some animals.
  • The plant offers to the herbivore a nutritious source of food in return for spreading the plant's genetic material to a wider area.
  • In return, ants discourage herbivores, both invertebrates and vertebrates, by stinging and attacking leaf-eating organisms.

• The Role of Energy and Metabolism

  • Plants use photosynthesis to capture sunlight, and herbivores eat those plants to obtain energy.
  • Carnivores eat the herbivores, and decomposers digest plant and animal matter.

• Angsiosperm Fruit

  • Some fruits attract herbivores with color or perfume, or as food.

• Food Chains and Food Webs

  • The organisms that consume the primary producers are herbivores: the primary consumers.
  • As an example, a grazing food web has plants or other photosynthetic organisms at its base, followed by herbivores and various carnivores.

• Post-Cambrian Evolution and Mass Extinctions

  • Plants died, herbivores and carnivores starved, and the mostly cold-blooded dinosaurs ceded their dominance of the landscape to more warm-blooded mammals.

• The Purpose and Process of Photosynthesis

  • Carnivores eat other animals and herbivores eat plants.

• Mosses

  • Mosses slow down erosion, store moisture and soil nutrients, and provide shelter for small animals as well as food for larger herbivores, such as the musk ox.

• Characteristics of the Animal Kingdom

  • As heterotrophs, animals may be carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, or parasites .