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Close-up of a Galápagos giant tortoise eating plants

Herbivorous

Herbivores are animals that exist mainly on a diet of plants or algae. Some eat a wide range of plants, others are more exclusive and eat only particular types, such as monarch butterfly caterpillars which feed on milkweed and pandas on bamboo. Anatomical and physiological adaptations help some herbivores become specialists, for example, in their tolerance of spiky leaves or an in-built antidote to toxins. Other specialists restrict themselves to certain parts of a plant: hummingbirds feed on nectar and greenfly feed on sap.

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Animals with this behaviour

Mammals

Birds

Reptiles

Ray-finned fishes

Insects

Snails and slugs

Clitellata

Synapsids

About

A herbivore is an organism anatomically and physiologically adapted to plant material, for example foliage, as the main component of its diet. These animals have an all plant diet and have characteristics that are special for obtaining plant material. (ex. Teeth for chewing tough plant parts)

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Behaviours

Other Feeding habits behaviours

BBC News about Herbivorous

  • Dwarf 'vampire' dino ate plants A bizarre dinosaur described as a cross between "a bird, a vampire and a porcupine" has been identified from fossils in South Africa.

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