Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Carnivore (Diet)

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

  • 107 Accesses

Synonyms

Flesh-eater; Meat-eater; Predator

Definition

Carnivore (diet) refers to any species that ingests animal tissues, either wholly or in part.

Introduction

A carnivore is defined as an organism that consumes animal tissue. With specific reference to the carnivore diet, the term relates to foodstuffs ingested, digested, absorbed, and utilized by an organism and identifies that ingested foodstuff consists wholly, or in part, as tissues derived from other animal species.

The dietary niche inhabited by a given species is an important aspect of ecological classification. What nutrients an animal requires and how an animal acquires those nutrients constitute the dietary niche of a given species. Carnivory is viewed as one of the three major dietary classifications, the other two being omnivory and herbivory. The term carnivore is derived from the Latin carn, meaning “flesh,” and vor, “to devour,” and essentially means “flesh eating.” Consequently, carnivorous organisms obtain their...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams, T. S. (1999). Hematophagy and hormone release. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 92(1), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Axelsson, E., Ratnakumar, A., Arendt, M.-J., Maqbool, K., Webster, M., Perloski, M., Liberg, O., Arnemo, J., Hedhammar, A., & Lindblad-Toh, K. (2013). The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet. Nature, 495, 360–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Backus, R. C., Cohen, G. L., Pion, P. D., Good, D. L., Rogers, Q. R., & Fascetti, A. J. (2003). Taurine deficiency in Newfoundland dogs maintained on commercial diets is corrected by dietary change or methionine supplementation. Journal of the American Medical Association, 223, 1130–1136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carbone, C., Teacher, A., & Rowcliffe, J. M. (2007). The costs of carnivory. PLoS Biology, 5(2), 0363–0368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chesney, R. W. (1985). Taurine: It’s biological role and clinical applications. Advances in Pediatrics, 32, 1–2.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Childs-Sanford, S. E., & Angel, C. R. (2006). Taurine deficiency in maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) maintained on two diets manufactured for the prevention of cystine urolithiasis. Zoo Biology, 25(2), 87–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clauss, M., Lischke, A., & Botha, H. (2015). Carcass consumption by domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). European Journal of Wildlife Research, 62(1), 143–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Cuyper, A., Clauss, M., Carbone, C., Codron, C., Cools, A., Hesta, M., & Janssens, G. P. J. (2019). Predator size and prey size-gut capacity ratios determine kill frequency and carcass production in terrestrial carnivorous mammals. Oikos, 128, 13–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Muizon, C., & Lange-Badre, B. (2007). Carnivorous dental adaptations in tribosphenic mammals and phylogenetic reconstruction. Lethaia, 30(4), 353–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delaney, S. J., Hill, A. S., Backus, R. C., Czarnecki-Maulden, G. L., & Rogers, Q. R. (2001). Dietary crude protein does not affect the leucine requirement of growing dogs. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 85, 88–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, A. M., & Gotelli, N. J. (2009). Energetics and evolution of carnivorous plants-Darwin’s ‘most wonderful plants in the world’. Journal of Experimental Botany, 60(1), 19–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, L. M., Stern, J. A., Fries, R., Adin, D. B., & Rush, J. E. (2018). Diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs: What do we know? Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association, 253(11), 1390–1394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukushima, K., Fang, X., Alvarez-Ponce, D., Cai, H., Carretero-Paulet, L., Chen, C., Chang, T. H., Farr, K. M., Fujita, T., Hiwatashi, Y., Hoshi, Y., Imai, T., Kashara, M., Librado, P., Mao, L., Mori, H., Nishiyama, T., Nozawa, M., Palfalyi, G., Pollard, S. T., Rozas, J., Sanchez-Garcia, A., Sankoff, D., Shibata, T.F., Shigenobu, S., Sumikawa, N., Uzawa, T., Xie, M., Zheng, C., Pollock, D. D., Albert, V. A., Li, S., & Hasebe, M. (2017). Genome of the pitcher plant Cephalotus reveals genetic changes associated with carnivory. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 1, Article number 59, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-016-0059.

  • Hume, I. D. (2002). Digestive strategies of mammals. Acta Zoologica Sinica, 48(1), 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S., Cho, Y. S., Kim, H. M., Chung, O., Kim, H., Jho, S., Seomun, H., Kim, J., Bang, W. Y., Kim, C., An, J., Bae, C. H., Bhak, Y., Jeon, S., Yoon, H., Kim, Y., Jun, J., Lee, H., Cho, S., Uphyrkina, O., Kostyria, A., Goodrich, J., Miquelle, D., Roelke, M., Lewis, J., Yurchenko, A., Bankevich, A., Cho, J., Lee, S., Edwards, J. S., Weber, J. A., Cook, J., Kim, S., Lee, H., Manica, A., Lee, I., O’Brien, S. J., Bhak, J., & Yeo, J. H. (2016). Comparison of carnivore, omnivore, and herbivore mammalian genomes with a new leopard assembly. Genome Biology, 17(1), 211. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-016-1071-4.

  • Klasing, K. C. (1998). Comparative avian nutrition. New York: CAB International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, G. A., Kittleson, M. D., Fox, P. R., Lewis, J., & Pion, P. D. (1995). Plasma taurine concentrations in normal dogs and dogs with heart disease. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 9, 253–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Legrand-Defretin, V. (1994). Differences between cats and dogs: A nutritional view. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 53(1), 15–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehane, M. J. (2005). The importance of blood sucking insects. In The biology of blood-sucking insects (2nd ed., pp. 1–6). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, M. L., Rogers, Q. R., & Morris, J. G. (1984). Nutrition of the domestic cat, a mammalian carnivore. Annual Review of Nutrition, 4, 521–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meckel, L. A., McDaneld, C. P., & Wescott, D. J. (2017). White-tailed deer as a taphonomic agent: Photographic evidence of white-tailed deer gnawing on human bone. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 63(1), 292–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris J.H., Rogers Q. R. (1992). The metabolic basis for the taurine requirement of cats. In: J. B. Lombardini, S. W. Schaffer, J. Azuma (Eds.), Taurine (Advances in experimental medicine and biology, Vol. 315). Boston: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peers, M. J. L., Majchrzak, Y. N., Kinkolics, S. M., Boonstra, R., & Boutin, S. (2018). Scavenging by snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) in Yukon, Canada. Northwestern Naturalist, 99(3), 232–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, G. H., Dominy, N. J., Claw, K. G., Lee, A. S., Fiegler, H., Redon, R., Werner, J., Villanea, F. A., Mountain, J. L., Misra, R., Carter, N. P., Lee, C., & Stone, A. C. (2007). Diet and the evolution of human amylase gene copy number variation. Nature Genetics, 39(10), 1256–1260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson, S. L., Gross, K. L., Ogburn, P. N., Calvert, G., Jacobs, S. R., Lowry, K. A., Bird, K. A., Koehler, L. A., & Swanson, L. L. (2001). Effects of dietary fat and L-carnitine on plasma and whole blood taurine concentrations and cardiac function in healthy dogs fed protein-restricted diets. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 62, 1616–1623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, C. E., & Hume, I. D. (1995). Comparative physiology of the vertebrate digestive system (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Valkenburgh, B. (1999). Major patterns in the history of carnivorous mammals. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 27, 463–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Valkenburgh, B. (2007). Déjà vu: The evolution of feeding morphologies in the Carnivora. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 27(1), 147–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, X., & Telford, R. H. (1994). Basicranial anatomy and phylogeny of primitive canids and closely related miacids (Carnivora: Mammalia). American Museum Novitates, 3092, 1–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werdelin, L. (1989). Constraint and adaptation in the bone cracking canid Osteoborus (Mammalia: Canidae). Palaeobiology, 15, 387–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, L., Wu, Q., Dai, J., Zhang, S., & Wei, F. (2011). Evidence of cellulose metabolism by the giant panda gut microbiome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(43), 17714–17719.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zoran, D. L. (2002). The carnivore connection to nutrition in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 221(11), 1559–1567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Skinner’s Pet Foods, Stradbroke, UK

    Jacqueline Boyd

Authors
  1. Jacqueline Boyd
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacqueline Boyd .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University , Rochester, MI, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany

    Alexis Garland

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Boyd, J. (2019). Carnivore (Diet). In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_118-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_118-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation