Omnivore
An animal that eats both plant and animal matter.
Omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber from these sources.[1] Any animal that consumes both vegetation and other animals is referred to as an omnivore.[1] Algae, fungi, and bacteria are also food sources that omnivores can frequently include in their diets.[1]
Quick Facts
- Definition
- Animal that eats both plant and animal matter
- Etymology
- Latin omnis 'all' + vorare 'to eat or devour'
- Behavioral definition
- Actively consuming both plant and animal materials
- Physiological definition
- Capability to obtain energy and nutrients from both plant and animal matter
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The word omnivore comes from Latin omnis 'all' and vorare 'to eat or devour'.[2] It was coined by the French and adopted into English in the 1800s.[2] No taxonomic equivalent of Carnivora exists for omnivores, as they are widespread across multiple clades.[3] Most bear species are omnivores, but individual diets can range from almost exclusively herbivorous to almost exclusively carnivorous.[4]
Sophisticated consumption abilities evolved independently in omnivores from a wide range of ancestral backgrounds.[5] Dogs trace their ancestry to organisms that were mainly meat-eaters, whereas pigs come from a lineage that was mainly plant-eaters.[5] Not every species belonging to the Carnivora order is a meat-eater, and the order itself does not contain every meat-eating species.[3] Organisms whose dietary patterns shift over their lifespan are termed "life-history omnivores."[6]
Geese, for instance, may consume mostly animal matter during one phase of their existence and mostly plant matter during another.[6]
What the research sources say
McArdle states that humans are classic examples of omnivores in all relevant anatomical traits.[7] McArdle notes that every Homo erectus tooth found was that of an omnivore.[7] McArdle defines omnivores as generalized feeders with neither carnivore nor herbivore specializations for acquiring or processing food.[7] McArdle explains that dogs are typical carnivores but have intestinal characteristics more in common with omnivores.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Omnivore" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biology", McGraw-Hill, 2008, p. 1326; "Encyclopedia of Animal Science - (Two-Volume Set)", McGraw-Hill, 2018, p. 1350; Bradford, "Reference: Omnivores: Facts About Flexible Eaters", Livescience, 25 January 2016; "Omnivore", National Geographic Education, 2011-01-21; McArdle, "Humans are Omnivores", Vegetarian Resource Group (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Omnivore" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "omnivore: definition of omnivore (American English) (US)", Oxford dictionary; "Chambers Dictionary of science and technology", W. and R. Chambers, 1974; "Omnivore - Biology-Online Dictionary", www.biology-online.org; "omnivore - definition of omnivore in English from the Oxford dictionary", www.oxforddictionaries.com; "omnivore - definition of omnivore in English from the Oxford dictionary", www.oxforddictionaries.com; "Definition of OMNIVORE", www.merriam-webster.com; "omnivore Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary", dictionary.camb en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Omnivore" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ewer, R. F., "The Carnivores", Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973; "Why Dogs Eat Grass ~ Dr. Richard Orzeck", www.worldsvet.com; "White-tailed deer shown to raid nests, eat eggs and baby birds, USGS reports", NOLA.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Omnivore" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Food and Diet", bearsmart.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Omnivore" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Why Your Dog's Pedigree Goes Back 40 Million Years", About.com Education; "Evolutionary History of Pigs – Domesticating Wilbur", blogs.lt.vt.edu; "Order Cetartiodactyla - Even-toed ungulates (and whales)", www.ultimateungulate.com; Evans, "Methods in Paleoecology: Reconstructing Cenozoic Terrestrial Environments and Ecological Communities", Springer International Publishing, 2018, p. 37–51; Sacco, "Ecomorphological indicators of feeding behaviour in the bears (Carnivora: Ursidae)", Journal of Zoology, 2004, p. 41–54 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Omnivore" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Omnivore", www.eoearth.org; Maclean, Gordon Lindsay (1993). Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. Publisher: New Holland. .; Skaife, S. H. (1953). African Insect Life. Pub. Longmans, Green & Co., London. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- McArdle, "Humans are Omnivores", Vegetarian Resource Group. facts only, no text reused. vrg.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Omnivore (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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