Editing Carnivore

{{Short description|Organism that eats mostly or exclusively animal tissue}}
{{About|the general concept of a meat-eating animal|the mammal order|Carnivora|other uses}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
[[File:Carnivore-lion.jpg|thumb|[[Lion|Lions]] are [[wikt:obligate#English|obligate]] carnivores consuming only animal flesh for their nutritional requirements.]]

A '''carnivore''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɑr|n|ɪ|v|ɔər}}, or '''meat-eater''' ([[Latin]], ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning [[meat]] or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an [[animal]] or [[plant]] whose [[nutrition]] and [[energy]] requirements are met by [[eating|consumption]] of animal [[tissue (biology)|tissue]]s (mainly [[muscle]], [[adipose tissue|fat]] and other [[soft tissue]]s) as [[food]], whether through [[predation]] or [[scavenger|scavenging]].<ref name=Ullrey-N/><ref name=Ullrey-M-C/>

==Nomenclature==

===Mammal order===
The technical term for mammals in the [[order (biology)|order]] [[Carnivora]] is ''carnivoran'', and they are so-named because most member species in the group have a carnivorous diet, but the similarity of the name of the order and the name of the diet causes confusion.

Many but not all carnivorans are meat eaters; a few, such as the [[felidae|large and small cats]] ([[Felidae]]) are ''obligate'' carnivores (see below). Other classes of carnivore are highly variable. The [[Ursidae|ursid]]s (bears), for example: while the Arctic [[polar bear]] eats meat almost exclusively (more than 90% of its diet is meat), almost all other bear species are [[omnivore|omnivorous]], and one species, the [[giant panda]], is nearly exclusively [[herbivore|herbivorous]].<ref name=WWF-pandas/>

Dietary carnivory is not a distinguishing trait of the [[order (biology)|order]]. Many mammals with highly carnivorous diets are ''not'' members of the order Carnivora. [[Cetacean]]s, for example, all eat other animals, but are paradoxically members of the almost exclusively [[herbivorous|plant-eating]] [[ungulate|hooved mammals]].

===Carnivorous diet===
Animals that depend solely on animal flesh for their nutrient requirements in nature are called ''[[hypercarnivore]]s'' or ''obligate carnivores'', whilst those that also consume non-animal food are called ''[[mesocarnivore]]s'', or ''facultative carnivores'', or ''[[omnivores]]'' (there are no clear distinctions).<ref name=Ullrey-M-C/> A carnivore at the top of the [[food chain]] (adults not preyed upon by other animals) is termed an [[apex predator]], regardless of whether it is an ''obligate'' or ''facultative'' carnivore. In captivity or domestic settings, obligate carnivores like cats and crocodiles can, in principle, get all their required nutrients from processed food made from plant and synthetic sources.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Devlin |first=Hannah |last2=correspondent |first2=Hannah Devlin Science |date=2023-09-13 |title=Cats may get health benefits from vegan diet, study suggests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/sep/13/cats-may-get-health-benefits-from-vegan-diet-study-suggests |access-date=2024-04-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-08 |title=Crocodiles in Zimbabwe fed vegetarian diet to make better handbags |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/10752968/Crocodiles-in-Zimbabwe-fed-vegetarian-diet-to-make-better-handbags.html |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Venus_Flytrap_showing_trigger_hairs.jpg|thumb|Members of the plant kingdom can live on meat too, such as the [[Venus flytrap]], a [[carnivorous plant]].]]
Outside the animal kingdom, there are several genera containing [[carnivorous plant]]s (predominantly insectivores), several phyla containing [[carnivorous fungus|carnivorous fungi]] (preying mostly on microscopic [[invertebrate]]s, such as [[nematode]]s, [[amoebae]], and [[springtail]]s) and [[Predatory dinoflagellate|carnivorous protist]]s.

===Subcategories of carnivory===
Carnivores are sometimes characterized by their [[List of feeding behaviours#By food type|type of prey]]. For example, animals that eat mainly [[insect]]s and similar [[terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] [[arthropod]]s are called ''[[insectivore]]s'', while those that eat mainly [[soft-bodied organism|soft-bodied]] [[invertebrate]]s are called ''[[vermivore]]s''. Those that eat mainly [[fish]] are called ''[[piscivore]]s''.

Carnivores may alternatively be classified according to the percentage of meat in their diet. The diet of a [[hypercarnivore]] consists of more than 70% meat, that of a [[mesocarnivore]] 30–70%, and that of a [[hypocarnivore]] less than 30%, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods, such as [[fruit]], other plant material, or [[fungi]].

[[Omnivore]]s also consume both animal and non-animal food, and apart from their more general definition, there is no clearly defined ratio of plant vs. animal material that distinguishes a ''facultative carnivore'' from an ''omnivore''.<ref name=Ullrey-M-O/>

==Obligate carnivores==
[[File:Tigre d'Asie à robe blanche.jpg|thumb|The [[Bengal tiger|Bengal tiger's]] large [[canine tooth|canines]] and strong jaws reveal its place as an [[apex predator]].]]
[[File:Male_Lion_and_Cub_Chitwa_South_Africa_Luca_Galuzzi_2004.JPG|thumb|[[Lion]]s are voracious carnivores; they require more than 7 kilograms of meat daily. A major component of their diet is the meat of large [[mammal]]s, such as this [[African buffalo|buffalo]].]]

Obligate or "true" carnivores are those whose diet requires nutrients found only in animal flesh in the wild. While obligate carnivores might be able to [[ingestion|ingest]] small amounts of plant matter, they lack the necessary [[physiology]] required to fully [[digestion|digest]] it. Some obligate carnivorous mammals will ingest vegetation as an [[emetic]], a food that upsets their stomachs, to self-induce vomiting.<ref name=Armstrong-Gross-etal-2010/>

Obligate carnivores are diverse. The amphibian [[axolotl]] consumes mainly worms and larvae in its environment, but if necessary will consume algae. All wild [[Felidae|felids]], including feral [[domestic cat|domestic cats]], require a diet of primarily animal flesh and organs.<ref name=Velegr-Defr-1994/> Specifically, cats have high protein requirements and their metabolisms appear unable to synthesize essential nutrients such as [[retinol]], [[arginine]], [[taurine]], and [[arachidonic acid]]; thus, in nature, they must consume flesh to supply these nutrients.<ref name=Ullrey-2004-Pond-EAS/>

== Characteristics of carnivores ==
Characteristics commonly associated with carnivores include strength, speed, and keen senses for hunting, as well as teeth and claws for capturing and tearing prey. However, some carnivores do not hunt and are [[scavenger]]s, lacking the physical characteristics to bring down prey; in addition, most hunting carnivores will scavenge when the opportunity arises. Carnivores have comparatively short digestive systems, as they are not required to break down the tough cellulose found in plants.

Many hunting animals have evolved eyes facing forward, enabling depth perception. This is almost universal among mammalian predators, while most reptile and amphibian predators have eyes facing sideways.

==Prehistory of carnivory==
{{main|Predation#Evolutionary history|Evolutionary history of life}}
''[[Predation]]'' (the eating of one living [[organism]] by another for [[nutrition]]) predates the rise of commonly recognized carnivores by hundreds of millions (perhaps billions) of years. It began with [[single-celled organism]]s that [[phagocytosis|phagocytoze]]d and [[digestion|digest]]ed other cells, and later evolved into [[multicellular organism]]s with [[cell differentiation|specialized cells]] that were dedicated to breaking down other organisms. Incomplete digestion of the prey organisms, some of which survived inside the predators in a form of [[endosymbiosis]], might have led to [[symbiogenesis]] that gave rise to [[eukaryote]]s and eukaryotic [[autotroph]]s such as [[green algae|green]] and [[red algae]].

===Proterozoic origin===
The earliest predators were [[microorganism]]s, which engulfed and "swallowed" other smaller [[cell (biology)|cell]]s (i.e. [[phagocytosis]]) and [[intracellular digestion|digested them internally]]. Because the earliest fossil record is poor, these first predators could date back anywhere between 1 and over 2.7&nbsp;[[bya]] (billion years ago).<ref name=Bengtson-2002-10/>

The rise of [[eukaryotic]] cells at around 2.7&nbsp;bya, the rise of multicellular organisms at about 2&nbsp;bya, and the rise of [[motile]] predators (around 600&nbsp;Mya – 2&nbsp;bya, probably around 1&nbsp;bya) have all been attributed to early predatory behavior, and many very early remains show evidence of boreholes or other markings attributed to small predator species.<ref name=Bengtson-2002-10/>

The sudden disappearance of the [[precambrian]] [[Ediacaran biota]] at the [[end-Ediacaran extinction]], who were mostly bottom-dwelling [[filter feeder]]s and [[grazing (behaviour)|grazer]]s, has been hypothetized to be partly caused by increased predation by newer animals with hardened skeleton and mouthparts.<ref name="Stanley1973">{{Cite journal |last=Stanley |first=S. M. |year=1973 |title=An ecological theory for the sudden origin of multicellular life in the Late Precambrian |journal=PNAS |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=1486–1489 |pmid=16592084 |doi=10.1073/pnas.70.5.1486 |pmc=433525 |bibcode=1973PNAS...70.1486S |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Paleozoic===
The degradation of [[seafloor]] [[microbial mat]]s due to the [[Cambrian substrate revolution]] led to increased active predation among animals, likely triggering various [[evolutionary arms race]]s that contributed to the rapid [[genetic divergence|diversification]] during the [[Cambrian explosion]]. [[Radiodont]] [[arthropod]]s, which produced the first [[apex predator]]s such as ''[[Anomalocaris]]'', quickly became the dominant carnivores of the Cambrian sea. After their decline due to the [[Cambrian-Ordovician extinction event]], the niches of large carnivores were taken over by [[nautiloid]] [[cephalopod]]s such as ''[[Cameroceras]]'' and later [[eurypterid]]s such as ''[[Jaekelopterus]]'' during the [[Ordovician]] and [[Silurian]] periods.

The first [[vertebrate]] carnivores appeared after the [[evolution of fish|evolution]] of [[jawed fish]], especially [[armour (zoology)|armor]]ed [[placoderm]]s such as the massive ''[[Dunkleosteus]]''. The dominance of placoderms in the [[Devonian]] ocean forced other fish to venture into other niches, and one clade of [[bony fish]], the [[lobe-finned fish]], became the dominant carnivores of [[freshwater]] [[wetland]]s formed by early [[land plant]]s. Some of these fish became better adapted for breathing air and eventually giving rise to [[amphibian]] [[tetrapod]]s. These early tetrapods were large [[semi-aquatic]] [[piscivores]] and [[riparian]] [[ambush predator]]s that hunt [[terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] arthropods (mainly [[arachnid]]s and [[myriopod]]s), and one group in particular, the [[temnospondyl]]s, became terrestrial apex predators that hunt other tetrapods.<ref name=Sahney-Benton-Ferry-2010/>

The dominance of temnospondyls around the wetland habitats throughout the [[Carboniferous]] forced other amphibians to evolve into [[amniote]]s that had adaptations that allowed them to live farther away from water bodies. These amniotes began to evolve both carnivory, which was a natural transition from insectivory requiring minimal adaptation; and [[herbivory]], which took advantage of the abundance of [[coal forest]] [[foliage]] but in contrast required a complex set of adaptations that was necessary for digesting on the [[cellulose]]- and [[lignin]]-rich plant materials.<ref name=Sahney-Benton-Ferry-2010/> After the [[Carboniferous rainforest collapse]], both [[synapsid]] and [[sauropsid]] amniotes quickly gained dominance as the top terrestrial animals during the subsequent [[Permian]] period. Some scientists assert that [[sphenacodontoid]] synapsids such as ''[[Dimetrodon]]'' "were the first terrestrial vertebrate to develop the curved, serrated teeth that enable a predator to eat prey much larger than itself".<ref name=Foley-2014-02-07/>

===Mesozoic===
In the [[Mesozoic]], some [[theropod]] [[dinosaur]]s such as ''[[Tyrannosaurus|Tyrannosaurus rex]]'' are thought probably to have been obligate carnivores.

Though the theropods were the larger carnivores, several carnivorous mammal groups were already present. Most notable are the [[Gobiconodontidae|gobiconodontids]], the [[Triconodontidae|triconodontid]] ''[[Jugulator (mammal)|Jugulator]]'', the [[Deltatheroida|deltatheroidans]] and ''[[Cimolestes]]''. Many of these, such as ''[[Repenomamus]]'', ''Jugulator'' and ''Cimolestes'', were among the largest mammals in their faunal assemblages, capable of attacking dinosaurs.<ref name=Zofia-Cifelli-Luo-2004/><ref name=Fox-2015/><ref name=Cifelli-Madsen-1998/>

===Cenozoic===
In the early-to-mid-Cenozoic, the dominant predator forms were mammals: [[Hyaenodonta|hyaenodonts]], [[Oxyaenidae|oxyaenids]], [[entelodont]]s, [[ptolemaiida]]ns, [[Arctocyonidae|arctocyonids]] and [[mesonychia]]ns, representing a great diversity of [[eutheria]]n carnivores in the northern continents and [[Africa]]. In [[South America]], [[Sparassodonta|sparassodonts]] were dominant, while [[Australia]] saw the presence of several [[marsupial]] predators, such as the [[Dasyuromorphia|dasyuromorphs]] and [[Thylacoleonidae|thylacoleonids]]. From the [[Miocene]] to the present, the dominant carnivorous mammals have been [[Carnivoramorpha|carnivoramorphs]].

Most carnivorous mammals, from [[dog]]s to ''[[deltatheridium]]s'', share several dental adaptations, such as [[carnassial]] teeth, long [[canine tooth|canine]]s and even similar tooth replacement patterns.<ref name=deMuizon-LangeBadré-1997/> Most aberrant are [[Thylacoleonidae|thylacoleonids]], with a diprodontan dentition completely unlike that of any other mammal; and [[eutriconodonts]] like gobiconodontids and ''Jugulator'', with a three-cusp anatomy which nevertheless functioned similarly to carnassials.<ref name=Zofia-Cifelli-Luo-2004/><ref name=quecome-2017-02-02/>

==See also==
* [[Mesocarnivore]]

==References==
{{reflist|25em|refs=

<ref name=Armstrong-Gross-etal-2010>
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<ref name=Bengtson-2002-10>
{{cite journal
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<ref name=Sahney-Benton-Ferry-2010>
{{cite journal
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<ref name=Cifelli-Madsen-1998>
{{cite journal
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|bibcode=1998JVPal..18..403C
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</ref>

<ref name=deMuizon-LangeBadré-1997>
{{cite journal
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 |title=Carnivorous dental adaptations in tribosphenic mammals and phylogenetic reconstruction
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|bibcode=1997Letha..30..353D
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</ref>

<ref name=Foley-2014-02-07>
{{cite news
 |author=Foley, James A.
 |date=7 February 2014
 |title= Carnivorous, pre-dinosaur predator was first to evolve steak knife-like teeth
 |website=Nature World News
 |url=http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5928/20140207/carnivorous-pre-dinosaur-predator-first-evolve-steak-knife-teeth.htm
 |access-date=3 May 2014
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Fox-2015>
{{cite journal
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}}
</ref>

<ref name=quecome-2017-02-02>
{{cite web
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<ref name=Ullrey-2004-Pond-EAS>
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{{cite book
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<ref name=Ullrey-N>{{cite book |section=Nutrient |first=Duane E. |last=Ullrey |title=Encyclopedia of Animal Science}}</ref>

<ref name=Ullrey-M-C>{{cite book |series=Mammals |section=Carnivores |first=Duane E. |last=Ullrey |title=Encyclopedia of Animal Science}}</ref>

<ref name=Ullrey-M-O>{{cite book |series=Mammals |section=Omnivores |first=Duane E. |last=Ullrey |title=Encyclopedia of Animal Science}}</ref>

<ref name=Velegr-Defr-1994>
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<ref name=WWF-pandas>
{{cite web
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<ref name=Zofia-Cifelli-Luo-2004>
{{cite book
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 |first2=Richard L. |last2=Cifelli
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</ref>

}} <!-- end "refs=" -->

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |editor1=Glen, Alistair |editor2=Dickman, Christopher |name-list-style=amp |year=2014 |title=Carnivores of Australia |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |place=Melbourne, AU |isbn=978-0-643-10310-8}}

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