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A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' (Latin carne meaning 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to devour'), is an animal with a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from animals living or dead (scavenging). Some animals are considered carnivores even if their diets contain very little meat (e.g., predatory arthropods such as Spiders or mantis that may rarely consume small vertebrate prey). Animals that subsist on a diet consisting only of meat are referred to as obligate carnivores.

The word sometimes refers to the mammals of the Order Carnivora, but this is misleading. Many (but not all) Carnivora fit the first definition of being meat eaters. For example, bears are members of Carnivora that are not true carnivores. And Carnivorans that eat insects primarily or exclusively are called insectivores, while those that eat fish primarily or exclusively are called piscivores. Mammals of the crown-clade Carnivoramorpha (Carnivora and Miacoidea without Creodonta), along with the early Order Creodonta, and some mammals of the even early Order Cimolesta, were carnivores in the strict sense of the word, i.e., that they were "meat eaters." The earliest mammal carnivore is considered to be the Cimolestes that existed during the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary Periods in North America about 65 million years ago. The Creodonta are thought to be the basal group for modern carnivores. The theropod dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex that existed during the Triassic, although not mammals, were obligate carnivores.

All carnivores have digits with well-developed claws and dentition and enlarged canine teeth. However, the defining characteristic of carnivores are the large carnassial teeth - the specialization of the fourth upper premolar (P4) and first lower molar (m1) for cutting and shearing. Carnassial dentition is especially well developed in highly predatory mammals, such as felids, canids, and hyaenids, and less well developed in more omnivorous groups, such as ursids and procyonids. The articulation of the jaw with the cranium is typically hinged so as to prevent any lateral motion that might occur as captured prey struggle to escape (Feldhamer, 2003).

There are also several genera and a few hundred species of carnivorous plants, though these are primarily insectivorous.

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7y ago
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13y ago

A creature that exclusively eats meat would be considered carnivorous. If it eats meat in ... A carnivorous animal is one which eats meat.

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11y ago

i think is .................................. keeping a secret not telling answer for james an collage

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13y ago

A carnivore is an animal that eats meat and doesn't eat vegetation

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12y ago

A carnivore is an animal that only eats meat, and nothing else.

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15y ago

A creature that eats meat. A carnivore.

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15y ago

meat eater

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Q: What are carnivoures?
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