Browser – An animal
that eats leaves off trees and shrubs; mostly used to decribe mammals.
Carnivore/carnivorous – An animal
that eats mostly or only meat.
Carrion – Dead animals
found lying on the ground, which are eaten by certain animals. Some animals
specialize in eating carrion, such as vultures. But many predators, such as
hyenas and lions and even crows, will also eat carrion if they find it. Some
people go “ugh” when they see an animal eating carrion, but it is a very
important “clean-up” job in Mother Nature’s system.
Commensalism
–
A relationship in which a plant or animal lives on or inside another,
benefitting from the relationship without helping or harming the host. An
example is a remora hitching a ride on a shark and picking up scraps from the
shark's meals.
Constrictor – A snake that
kills its prey by wrapping its body around the prey and squeezing it to keep it
from breathing.
Fructivore – An animal
that eats fruits.
Grazer – An animal
that eats grasses off the ground; mostly used to describe mammals.
Herbivore/herbivorous – An animal
that eats mostly or only plant matter.
Insectivore/insectivorous – An animal
that eats mostly or only insects and similar creatures such as spiders,
millepedes, etc.
Mutualism – A
relationship in which a plant or animal lives on or inside another, with both
host and guest benefitting from the relationship. Often, the relationship is so
close that neither species can survive outside the relationship. An example is
the combination algae and fungus (lichens) and the combination of algae and
coral. Some mutually beneficial relationships are less intimate and
essential...the birds that pick insects off the backs of mammals and even from
the mouths of crocodiles, for example.
Omnivore/omnivorous – An animal
that eats "everything," or at least a well-mixed mixture of plant and
animal material. Most mammals, including humans, turn out to be omnivorous when
they are studied closely even if they have reputations as plant eaters or
meateaters. A lot of mammals eat mostly plants or mostly meat, but not so many
eat only plants or meat. However, there are probably more mammals that eat only
plants than there are that eat only meat. Many kinds of birds eat both insects
and plant matter. Mixed menus are not unknown for many species in other groups
of animals, too.
Parasite/Parasitism/Parasitic – A
relationship in which one plant or animal (the parasite) lives on or inside
another, consuming the host's body or food supply with resulting damage or
death to the host. Fleas and tapeworms are examples of parasites.
Prey
–
An animal who gets eaten by another animal.
Predator
–
An animal who kills other animals to eat.
Symbiosis/Symbiotic – A
relationship in which a plant or animal lives on or inside another. If one
animal benefits and the other is harmed, it is called parasitism. If both
animals benefit, it is called mutualism. If one animal benefits and the other
is neither harmed nor helped, it is called commensalism. Sometimes you will
hear people use symbiosis as another word for mutualism, but most scientists
use it to mean all kinds of “living together” dependencies between members of different
species.