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From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Etymology== Latin omnivorus, from omni- + -vorus -vorous *Date: circa [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Tufted_capuchin.jpg|right|frame]]
==Etymology==
[[Latin]] omnivorus, from omni- + -vorus -vorous
*Date: circa [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Century 1656]
==Definitions==
*1 : feeding on both [[animal]] and [[vegetable]] substances
*2 : avidly taking in everything as if devouring or consuming <an omnivorous [[reader]]>
==Description==
'''Omnivores''' (from [[Latin]]: omni all, [[everything]]; vorare to devour) are [[species]] that eat both [[plants]] and [[animals]] as their primary [[food]] source. They are [[opportunistic]], general feeders not specifically [[adapted]] to eat and digest either meat or [[plant]] material primarily. Pigs are one well-known example of an omnivore. Crows are another example of an omnivore that many people see every day. [[Humans]] are regarded as omnivores. Although the term omnivore [[literally]] means eater of everything, omnivores cannot really eat "everything" that other [[animals]] eat; they can only eat [[things]] that are at least moderately easy to get and still at least moderately [[nutritious]]. For example, most of them cannot live by grazing (easy to get, but not nutritious enough), nor can they eat some hard-shelled animals or successfully [[hunt]] large or fast prey (nutritious, but too hard to get).
Although there are cases of [[herbivores]] eating meat matter, as well as examples of [[carnivores]] eating [[plants]], the [[classification]] refers to the [[adaptations]] and main [[food]] source of the [[species]] in general, so these exceptions do not make either [[individual]] animals nor the species as a whole omnivores.
Most bear species are considered omnivores, but individual diets can range from almost exclusively herbivorous to almost exclusively [[carnivorous]], depending on what [[food]] sources are available locally and [[season]]ally. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bears Polar bears] are classified as [[carnivores]] while pandas are classified as herbivores, although giant pandas will eat some meat (e.g., insects) from time to time, and polar bears will sometimes eat [[plants]] (e.g., kelp) but neither is a significant part of their diet.
==Species considered omnivorous==
Various [[mammals]] are omnivorous by [[nature]], such as pigs, badgers, bears, coatis, hedgehogs, opossums, skunks, sloths, squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, mice and rats. Also some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primates primates] are omnivorous including [[humans]] and chimpanzees. Various birds are omnivorous, whose diet varies from berries and nectar to insects, worms, fish, and small rodents; examples include cassowarys, chickens, crows and related corvids, keas, rallidae, and rheas. In addition, some lizards, turtles, fish, such as piranhas, and invertebrates are also omnivorous.
While [[virtually]] all [[mammals]] may display 'omnivorous' [[behavior]] [[patterns]], depending on conditions of supply, [[culture]], etc. Mammals will generally prefer one class of [[food]] or another, with optimized digestive [[processes]]. Like most [[arboreal]] species, most squirrels are primarily granivores, preferring nuts and seeds. but as with virtually all mammals, squirrels can resort to consuming some meat as fallback [[food]] if starving or facultatively, e.g., when nests are in [[danger]] of being raided by predators, etc.
Depending on the [[species]] of bear, there is generally a preference for one class of [[food]] or another as [[plants]] and [[animals]] are digested differently.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnivorous]
[[Category: General Reference]]
==Etymology==
[[Latin]] omnivorus, from omni- + -vorus -vorous
*Date: circa [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Century 1656]
==Definitions==
*1 : feeding on both [[animal]] and [[vegetable]] substances
*2 : avidly taking in everything as if devouring or consuming <an omnivorous [[reader]]>
==Description==
'''Omnivores''' (from [[Latin]]: omni all, [[everything]]; vorare to devour) are [[species]] that eat both [[plants]] and [[animals]] as their primary [[food]] source. They are [[opportunistic]], general feeders not specifically [[adapted]] to eat and digest either meat or [[plant]] material primarily. Pigs are one well-known example of an omnivore. Crows are another example of an omnivore that many people see every day. [[Humans]] are regarded as omnivores. Although the term omnivore [[literally]] means eater of everything, omnivores cannot really eat "everything" that other [[animals]] eat; they can only eat [[things]] that are at least moderately easy to get and still at least moderately [[nutritious]]. For example, most of them cannot live by grazing (easy to get, but not nutritious enough), nor can they eat some hard-shelled animals or successfully [[hunt]] large or fast prey (nutritious, but too hard to get).
Although there are cases of [[herbivores]] eating meat matter, as well as examples of [[carnivores]] eating [[plants]], the [[classification]] refers to the [[adaptations]] and main [[food]] source of the [[species]] in general, so these exceptions do not make either [[individual]] animals nor the species as a whole omnivores.
Most bear species are considered omnivores, but individual diets can range from almost exclusively herbivorous to almost exclusively [[carnivorous]], depending on what [[food]] sources are available locally and [[season]]ally. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bears Polar bears] are classified as [[carnivores]] while pandas are classified as herbivores, although giant pandas will eat some meat (e.g., insects) from time to time, and polar bears will sometimes eat [[plants]] (e.g., kelp) but neither is a significant part of their diet.
==Species considered omnivorous==
Various [[mammals]] are omnivorous by [[nature]], such as pigs, badgers, bears, coatis, hedgehogs, opossums, skunks, sloths, squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, mice and rats. Also some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primates primates] are omnivorous including [[humans]] and chimpanzees. Various birds are omnivorous, whose diet varies from berries and nectar to insects, worms, fish, and small rodents; examples include cassowarys, chickens, crows and related corvids, keas, rallidae, and rheas. In addition, some lizards, turtles, fish, such as piranhas, and invertebrates are also omnivorous.
While [[virtually]] all [[mammals]] may display 'omnivorous' [[behavior]] [[patterns]], depending on conditions of supply, [[culture]], etc. Mammals will generally prefer one class of [[food]] or another, with optimized digestive [[processes]]. Like most [[arboreal]] species, most squirrels are primarily granivores, preferring nuts and seeds. but as with virtually all mammals, squirrels can resort to consuming some meat as fallback [[food]] if starving or facultatively, e.g., when nests are in [[danger]] of being raided by predators, etc.
Depending on the [[species]] of bear, there is generally a preference for one class of [[food]] or another as [[plants]] and [[animals]] are digested differently.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnivorous]
[[Category: General Reference]]
