Page 58 - One Million Things: Animal Life - The Incredible Visual Guide
P. 58

CARNIVORES
                                                                                                            INSECTIVORES
                                                                                                          3
       FEEDING                                                          These animals feed exclusively on   Animals that feed on insects are
                                                                         1
                                                                        meat or fish, food sources rich in   called insectivores. The giant
                                                                        nutrients. Carnivores are predators   anteater, for example, breaks open
       Animals eat to survive. They eat a wide range of foods           that either hunt or lie in wait for   ant or termite nests using its
       and show many different feeding techniques. Animals              their prey. They include leopards,   powerful claws. It flicks its long,
       are divided into different categories, such as herbivores        snakes, bullfrogs, and sea eagles.   sticky tongue in and out of broken
                     and carnivores, according to their food            Many have large teeth and strong   nests to scoop up the thousands of
    Leopard             preferences. Once an animal has eaten           jaws, or sharp beaks and talons.   insects it needs to eat daily.

                          food, it is digested (broken down) to
                            release its essential nutrients. These       2  SCAVENGERS
                             nutrients supply the energy needed         This clean-up squad of flesh-eaters    Farmyard pig
                              for movement and the raw materials        feeds on dead animals. Vultures, for
                               used for growth and repair.              example, are scavenging specialists   5
                                                                        that use their sharp, hooked beaks
                                                                        to cut through skin and flesh, and
                                                                        their rough tongues to rasp
                                                                        meat from bones.
           1
                                       American black vulture
                                   2

                                                                                                            4    Vampire bat




















                                                                Sharp teeth
                                                                gnaw nut held
                                          Gray squirrel         in front paws                                      orang-utan’s diet
                                                                                                                    Fruit forms the
                                                                                                                    main part of an


                                                                                           Guinea pig
        3 Giant anteater

           Narrow snout
           housing long
          tongue probes
          into ants’ nests



                 Strong,
               sharp jaws
               cut margin
                  of leaf                             African bullfrog

                                                                         8  DUNG FEEDERS                                          9
                                                                        Certain insects feed on the feces
                                                                        (dung) of herbivores such as cattle.
                                                                                                            butterfly
                                                                   8
                                  Caterpillar
                                                                        Dung beetles use smell to detect   Swallowtail
                                                                        dung and suck nutritious fluid from
                                                              Dung beetle  it. They roll dung into a ball and
                                                                        bury it with their eggs to provide
                                                                        food for newly hatched larvae.
       56

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   US_056_057_Feeding.indd   56                                                                                                      5/11/08   11:21:34
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