Carnivores are animals whose main method of getting food is to kill and eat other animals, or to scavenge their dead flesh. Typically, the word brings to mind the large predators at the top of the food chain - lions, wolves and the like - but insectivores (insect eaters) and piscivores (fish eaters) are equally carnivorous. The group of mammals, Carnivora, are so called because so many of the species in it (felines, canines, etc) are defined by their carnivorous diet. Some plants are also carnivorous.
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Common toad
Darwin's frog
Venezuela pebble toad
Chinese giant salamander
Great crested newt
Japanese giant salamander
Texas blind salamander
African fish eagle
Crowned eagle
Eleonora's falcon
Golden eagle
Kestrel
Peregrine falcon
Red kite
Sparrowhawk
White-tailed sea eagle
Kingfisher
Pied kingfisher
Southern carmine bee-eater
White-fronted bee-eater
Cape gannet
Socotra cormorant
Rook
Sand martin
Swallow
Clark's grebe
Arctic skua
Herring gull
Lesser black-backed gull
South polar skua
Adelie penguin
Emperor penguin
Humboldt penguin
King penguin
Macaroni penguin
Snares crested penguin
Buff-necked ibis
Wood stork
Eurasian eagle owl
Short-eared owl
Tawny owl
Galápagos petrel
Snow petrel
Wandering albatross
Waved albatross
Giant anteater
Greater bulldog bat
Little bent-wing bat
African wild dog
Antarctic fur seal
Baikal seal
Brown fur seal
Cheetah
Crabeater seal
Ethiopian wolf
Galápagos fur seal
Giant river otter
Grey seal
Grey wolf
Jaguar
Leopard
Leopard seal
Lion
Meerkat
Otter
Polar bear
Polecat
Puma
Red fox
Sea otter
Serval
Snow leopard
South American grey fox
Southern Elephant Seal
Southern sea lion
Stoat
Tibetan fox
Tiger
Walrus
Weddell seal
Southern three-banded armadillo
Crest-tailed mulgara
Tasmanian devil
Tiger quoll
Platypus
Star-nosed mole
Aardvark
Blue whale
Common bottlenose dolphin
Grey whale
Humpback whale
Killer whale
Pantropical spotted dolphin
Peale's dolphin
Chinese alligator
Nile crocodile
Yacare caiman
Amethystine python
Banded sea krait
Black mamba
Black-banded sea krait
Brown basilisk
Grass snake
Komodo dragon
Sand goanna
Slow worm
Spotted python
Thorny devil
Tibetan spring snake
Yellow anaconda
A carnivore (pronounced /ˈkɑrnɪvɔər/), meaning 'meat eater' (Latin carne meaning 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to devour'), is an animal that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of vertebrate and/or invertebrate animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging. Animals that depend solely on animal flesh for their nutrient requirements are considered obligate carnivores while those that also consume non-animal food are considered facultative carnivores.Omnivores too consume both animal and non-animal food, and apart from the more general definition, there is no clearly defined ratio of plant to animal material that would distinguish a facultative carnivore from an omnivore, or an omnivore from a facultative herbivore, for that matter. A carnivore that sits at the top of the foodchain is an apex predator.
Plants that capture and digest insects are called carnivorous plants. Similarly fungi that capture microscopic animals are often called carnivorous fungi.
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