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Feeding
Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. There are many types of feeding that animals exhibit, including: more...
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filter feeding - obtaining food suspended in the water column;
deposit feeding - obtaining food particles in soil;
fluid feeding - obtaining food by consuming other organisms fluids;
food-mass feeding - obtaining food by eating pieces of other organisms;
Another classification refers to the food groups some animals specialize in, such as:
Carnivore - meat;
Detritivore - decomposing material;
Folivore - leaves;
Frugivore - fruits;
Granivore - seeds;
Herbivore - plants;
Insectivore - insects;
Nectarivore - nectar;
Omnivore - plants and meat;
Piscivore - fishes;
Sanguinivore - blood;
Saprovore - dead matter;
Etc.;
There are also several food sources which have caused the development of specialized feeding behaviors, such as:
Ophiophagy: feeding on snakes;
Hematophagy: feeding on blood;
Coprophagy: feeding on faeces;
Cannibalism: feeding on members of the same species;
Trophallaxis: regurgitation of food to another animal;
Etc.;
In many instances, the specialization of organisms in a specific type of food source has been one of the major causes of evolution of form and function, such as:
mouth parts and teeth, such as in whales, vampire bats, leeches, mosquitos, predatory animals such as felines and fishes, etc;
distinct forms of beaks in birds, such as in hawks, woodpeckers, pelicans, hummingbirds, parrots, kingfishers, etc.;
specialized claws and other appendages, for apprehending or killing (including fingers in primates;
changes in body colour for facilitating camouflage, disguise, setting up traps for preys, etc.;
changes in the digestive system, such as the system of stomaches of herbivores, commensalism and symbiosis;
Read more at Wikipedia.org
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