Bears are characterized by their doglike snouts, shaggy hair, plantigrade postures (that is, they walk on the soles rather than the toes of their feet), and unnerving habit of rearing up on their hinds legs when threatened. The largest family of carnivorous mammals, comprising nearly 60 species, mustelids include animals as diverse as weasels, badgers, ferrets, and wolverines. True carnivores lack the physiology required for the efficient digestion of vegetable matter, and, in fact, some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic. ", Lions, Tigers, and Other Cats (Family Felidae), Weasels, Badgers and Otters (Family Mustelidae), Raccoons, Coatis and Kinkajous (Family Procyonidae), Mongooses and Meerkats (Family Herpestidae), The Difference Between Sea Lions and Seals, The Family Otariidae: Characteristics of Eared Seals and Sea Lions, Facts of the Pre-Historic Predator Hyaenodon. They may consume other products presented to them, especially animal products like eggs and bone marrow or sweet sugary substances like honey and syrup, but, as these items are not essential, they do not consume these on a regular basis. In truth, these assumptions may be misleading, as some carnivores do not hunt and are scavengers (though most hunting carnivores will scavenge when the opportunity exists). eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'newworldencyclopedia_org-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',162,'0','0'])); While the term carnivore is popularly and acceptably used to refer to any meat-eating animal, in taxonomy the name specifically refers to any member of the mammalian order Carnivora, including those that are herbivores. Prehistoric mammals of the crown clade Carnivoramorpha (Carnivora and Miacoidea without Creodonta), along with the early Order Creodonta, and some mammals of the even earlier Order Cimolesta, were true carnivores. Suborder Feliformia (cat-like carnivores), Subfamily Felinae (small and medium sized cats), Suborder Caniformia (dog-like carnivores), Family Canidae (foxes, wolves, coyotes, dogs, jackals, and the dhole), Family Procyonidae (ringtail, cacomistle, raccoons, coatis, kinkajou, and olingos), Family Mustelidae (weasels, mink, polecats, ferrets, martens, wolverine, badgers, and otters), Family Mephitidae (skunks and stink badgers), Family Otariidae (eared seals, sea lions), Family Phocidae (earless seals, true seals), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_species_in_order_Carnivora&oldid=982446442, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 October 2020, at 06:00. This list contains the species in the order Carnivora. Holliday, J. The term is in contrast to herbivore, which refers to animals with a diet wholly or mainly of plant matter, and omnivore, which refers to animals that consume both animal and plant matter. There are many predatory invertebrates, for example arthropods such as spiders or mantises and various species of predatory land snails and sea snails. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. In many respects indistinguishable from the weasels, badgers and otters of family Mustelidae, mongooses have achieved fame thanks to a unique evolutionary weapon: these cat-sized carnivores are almost completely immune to snake venom. Bears (Family Ursidae) There are only eight species of bears alive today, but these carnivores have … Additionally, it is used in paleobiology to describe taxa of animals which have an increased slicing component of their dentition relative to the grinding component (Holliday and Steppan 2004). In case you've never been to Indonesia or the Bay of Bengal, linsangs are slender, foot-long, weasel-like creatures with distinctive markings on their coats: head-to-tail bands with tabby-like tail rigs on the banded linsang (Prionodon linsang), and leopard-like spots on the spotted linsang (Prionodon pardicolor). Carnivores also are known as meat eaters, with meat used in its broadest sense as "animal tissues used for food," including invertebrate tissue, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and so forth. By consuming various animals lower in the food chain, meat-consuming predators, such as wolves and lions, help to maintain acceptable population levels of their prey. The Hyaenidae family also includes the little-known aardwolf, a small, insect-eating mammal with a long, sticky tongue. Most wild carnivores consume this in the digestive system of their prey. Carnivorous animals are an animals that eat other animals meat, in this list of carnivorous animals there was 168 animals arranged alphabetically but in some letters I can't found any carnivore animals. Cannibalism includes sexual cannibalism and cannibalistic infanticide. Marcel Burkhard/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0 DE. New content will be added above the current area of focus upon selection The 15 or so species of earless seals, also known as true seals, are well-adapted to a marine lifestyle: these sleek, streamlined carnivores lack external ears, the females have retractable nipples, and the males have internal testicles and a penis that's pulled into the body when not in use. Cannibalism refers to a type of carnivory that entails the consumption of members of an organism's own species. An obligate carnivore ( or true carnivore) is an animal that must eat meat in order to thrive (Syufy 2008). To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. As with other dietary categories, carnivore (in the general, non-taxonomic sense) delineates a heterogeneous group of animals from many phyla and classes. 2004. They are the hardest class to grow. Abelisaurus (ah-BEEL-ee-sore-us), Abel’s Lizard. Like much of the wildlife of Madagascar, many euplerids are severely endangered by the encroachment of human civilization. Carnivores—by which we mean, for the purposes of this article, meat-eating mammals—come in all shapes and sizes. For the mammalian order (cats, dogs, bears, otters, pinnipeds, etc. Although true seals spend most of the time at sea, and can swim for extended periods of time underwater, they return to dry land or pack ice to give birth; these mammals communicate by grunting and slapping their flippers, unlike their close cousins, the eared seals of family Otariideae. Carnivores are an essential part of the delicate balance seen in nature. Hypercarnivores present specialized dentition for a meat-only diet. A bit like a cross between the bears and the mustelids, raccoons and other procyonids (including coatis, kinkajous and ringtails) are small, long-snouted carnivores with distinctive facial markings. New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article Although insects belong to one order (order Insecta) of one phylum (phylum Arthropoda) and are individually small, they exist in diverse forms and in enormous numbers and make up a very large part of the animal biomass in almost all non-marine environments. Roughly speaking, mustelids are moderately sized (the largest member of this family, the sea otter, only weighs 100 pounds); possess short ears and short legs; and are equipped with scent glands in their behinds, which they use to mark their territory and signal sexual availability.