Herbivore

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Deer2.jpg In zoology, an herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat primarily plant matter (rather than meat). Although such animals are sometimes referred to as being vegetarian, this term is more properly reserved for humans who choose not to eat meat as opposed to animals that are unable to.

Herbivores can be further classified into various sub-groups, such as frugivores, which eat mainly fruit; or folivores, which specialize in eating leaves. This specialization is far from universal, however, and many fruit- and leaf-eating animals also eat other parts of plants, notably roots and seeds. The diets of some herbivorous animals vary with the seasons, especially in the temperate zones, where different plant foods are most available at different times of year.

There is a misperception that if an animal is herbivorous, it represents less danger to humans than a carnivore (or, sometimes, no danger at all). This is not logically sound; few animals, even carnivores, will seek humans as a food source, but any animal will attack a human if necessary to defend itself. For example, in national parks such as the United State's Yellowstone Park, bison represent significantly more danger to humans than wolves, which are likely to avoid people. Of the Africa's Big Five or Big Five Game, (a term coined by the hunting fraternity in Africa to refer to the five most dangerous animals to hunt i.e. Rhinoceros, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Elephant and Lion), three are Herbivores .

Herbivores form an important link in the food chain as they transform the sun's energy stored in the plants to food that can be consumable by other carnivores up the food chain.

Animals that are true herbivores

The following are herbivorous animals in nature. Some will occasionally eat animal parts to address nutritional deficiencies (e.g., deer may eat bones and shed antlers). Most can digest meat in artificial conditions (feedlots) with adaptation, and some will eat meat if they find them helpless and unable to escape (e.g. sheep have been recorded eating newly-hatched birds).

• Bovids (such as cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, antelopes, bison, gazelles, and moose)
• Horses (including all members of the horse family such as domestic horses, donkeys, and zebras)
• Deer
• Elephants
• Rhinoceroses
• Hippopotamuses
• Giraffes
• Gorillas
• Orangutans
• Pandas
• Some rodents such as guinea pigs, porcupines, beavers, and capybaras
• Rabbits and hares
• Parrots and macaws
• Some finches
• Some tortoises and turtles
• Grasshoppers and many other insects
• Millipedes
• Snails and slugs
• Lepidoptera

See also

• Vegetarianism
• Veganism
• Omnivores
• Carnivores
• List of vores
• Plant defense against herbivory
• Herbivore adaptations to plant defense

External links and references

• the herbivore defenses of Senecio viscusus
• Burton, N. H. K. (2002). Red Grouse chick eaten by sheep. Brit. Birds 95: 87.
• Furness, R. W. (1988). The predation of tern chicks by sheep. Bird Study 35: 199-202.

Template:Biological interaction-footerTemplate:Ecology-stub

cy:Llysysydd da:Planteæder de:Pflanzenfresser es:Herbívoro fr:Herbivore id:Herbivora io:Herbivoro it:Erbivoro ms:Maun nl:Herbivoor ja:草食動物 pl:Roślinożerca pt:Herbívoro simple:Herbivore fi:Herbivori zh:草食性