CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS ACCORDING TO THEIR DIET - BIOLOGY - 2024

It is possible to study a classification of animals according to their diet. In this sense they can be carnivores, herbivores, omnivores and insectivores. Animals are defined as multicellular, heterotrophic, and diploid organisms.

By classifying animals according to their way of eating, we seek to better understand their characteristics, their behavior and their role in nature.

There are seven main classes of nutrients that animals need: carbohydrates, fats, fiber, minerals, proteins, vitamins, and water.

Macronutrients are the nutrients that provide the metabolic energy that the animal body needs. They are mainly lipids, proteins and carbohydrates / carbohydrates.

Without them, the amino acids from which proteins are built and the lipids that form cell membranes and other molecules and energy could not be obtained.

Vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water do not provide energy, but they are needed for other reasons.

Carbohydrate and fat molecules (a type of lipid) consist of atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Carbohydrates range from simple monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, galactose) to complex polysaccharides (starch).

Fats are triglycerides, made up of varied fatty acid monomers attached to a glycerol backbone. Some fatty acids are essential in the diet, as they cannot be synthesized in the body.

The fundamental components of protein are the nitrogen-containing amino acids, some of which are essential, since the animal body cannot synthesize them by itself.

The 4 groups of animals according to their diet

1- Carnivores

They are animals that obtain their nutritional requirements by consuming the meat of other animals.

Although they belong to different species, carnivorous animals have certain characteristics in common:

- High dental development (premolar and molar).

- Simple stomach.

- Medium size.

- Protective coat of your skin.

Their developed canine teeth allow them to tear the meat, and the premolars and molars are adapted to grind it.

The way they get their food divides them into predators and scavengers.

- Predators

They are evolutionarily prepared animals to hunt and devour their prey.

- Scavengers

In this case, the animal consumes the meat of dead animals. As is the case with most species, their way of feeding contributes to the ecological balance.

They eat the organic remains that do not serve the earth and leave those that will become compost.

Some scavengers include the hyena, vulture, scavenger beetle, and bloated flies.

2- Herbivores

Herbivores are animals that feed almost exclusively on plants, although they can also consume eggs or other animal proteins.

They have sharp incisors to cut vegetables, and flat molars and premolars to crush plant fibers.

There are animals that limit themselves to eating fruits, such as frugivores; or those that only eat leaves, which are called folivores.

There are 3 types of herbivores: ruminants, simple stomach and compound stomach.

- Ruminant herbivores

These animals cut grass with their incisor teeth and swallow it in large quantities without chewing.

After that food reaches the stomach, it passes into a second compartment called a net. From there it returns to the mouth in the form of food bowls.

Those boluses are the ones that will chew and grind slowly and perfectly when at rest. This specific process is called rumination.

Once the bolus is crushed, they swallow it and then, when it sets, is when they digest it.

- Simple stomach herbivores

These are animals that do not undergo pregastric fermentation. In the case of some of these, such as the rabbit, there is a postgastric fermentation.

A process of cecotrophy occurs, thanks to which it ingests the soft stools that form in the functional cecum of its stomach.

These feces constitute 15% of your protein requirements. It is worth saying that it is a protein rich in amino acids.

- Herbivores with compound stomach

They are animals that have stomachs with specialized divisions in specific processes of digestion of food.

Furthermore, this stomach contains microorganisms that break fiber bonds and ferment carbohydrates. This is the case of cattle.

3- omnivores

These animals have a digestive system capable of digesting meat and vegetables. In the same way, their teeth develop to crumble plant and animal foods very well.

This ability helps them to survive in any environment, supplying all their nutritional requirements.

Some hunt for their food, while others eat it already dead and / or processed. They can also eat the eggs of other animals.

Although they can eat plants, omnivores do not eat all kinds of plants, unless they are an omnivorous herbivore.

Its visible characteristics vary considerably between each specimen. They include different species.

In addition to humans, some omnivorous animals are the pig, the coati, the bears (except the polar and the panda), the dog, the ostrich, the hedgehog, the boreal raccoon, squirrels, piranhas and the sloth.

4- Insectivores

Insectivorous animals subsist on a diet of earthworms, other arthropods, and insects. Some also eat carrion and plant matter.

About 10% of all mammalian species are insectivores. They are usually small mammals with numerous, small, pointed teeth.

In general, they are plantigrade animals, whose snouts are flexible and small and have whiskers with sensory terminals thanks to which they can locate their food between the ground, mud or leaf litter.

References

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