The food chain is a series of organisms each depending on the next as a source of food. It is a quick way to explain the energy (food) exchange that occurs in an ecosystem. The food chain begins with sunlight and water as essential elements necessary to create plant life. Plants take energy from the…
You’ve probably heard of herbivores and carnivores. Herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat meat, but how do you describe an animal that only eats bugs? That’s a special kind of carnivore that we call an “insectivore.” Insectivores range from other insects and invertebrates like spiders, to large mammals like the aardvark, and even humans! Although insects…
What do bearded dragons, opossums, and humans have in common? Despite different bodies and lifestyles, all three of these animals are typically omnivores. An omnivore is an animal that eats both plants (and lifeforms such as fungi) and animals. Omnivores come in many shapes and sizes, as well as methods of acquiring food. For example,…
Vegetarian. Plant/Leaf eater. Herbivore. All these terms mean the same thing – an animal that is adapted to eating plants and greens for the majority of their diet! Herbivores are a very important part of the food chain, because they digest those ever important carbohydrates that plants produce through the process known as photosynthesis. Carnivores…
We all have probably heard the term “carnivore” before, especially when learning about some of the favorite dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex…but what exactly is a carnivore? Well the word carnivore literally means “meat eater”, and it’s almost as simple as that! There are two main types of carnivores – those that depend on a…
We’ve all heard of a predator before…these animals, usually carnivorous, attack and eat their prey to feed and gain energy. Predators are usually strong animals towards the top of the food chain, and often eat herbivores or smaller predators. But what about the predator at the very tippy top of their food chain? Well guess…