Animals by eating behaviors

thumb|250px|A deer and two fawns feeding on foliage thumb|250px|A sawfly larva feeding on a leaf thumb|250px|Tracks made by terrestrial gastropods with their radulas, scraping [[green algae from a surface inside a greenhouse]]

thumb|Lion|Lions are obligate carnivores, since they consume only animal flesh for their nutritional requirements.

thumb|Examples of omnivores. From left to right: humans, [[dogs, pigs, channel catfish, American crows, gravel ant]] thumb|Among birds, the hooded crow is a typical omnivore. An omnivore () is an animal that eats both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutrients and energy of the sources absorbed. Often, they have the ability to incorporate food sources such as algae, fungi, and bacteria into their diet.

thumb|This aardwolf skull exhibits greatly reduced molars and [[carnassials teeth as they are unnecessary for any large, insectivorous animal subsisting on soft insects such as termites. The dentition of a shrew is very different. The aardwolf uses its canine teeth in self-defence; accordingly, they have not been greatly reduced.]] thumb|A Asilidae|robber fly eating a [[hoverfly]] thumb|The giant anteater, a large insectivorous mammal

eating disorder

thumb|Earthworms are soil-dwelling detritivores. Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants that eat detritus or carry out coprophagy. By doing so, all these detritivores contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles. Detritivores should be distinguished from other decomposers, such as many species of bacteria, fungi and protists, which are unable to ingest discr

thumb|A Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) eating a fruit.|alt=A [[Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) eating a fruit.]]

thumb|Northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon) eating a [[catfish]] thumb|An Atlantic puffin with a mouth full of [[lesser sand eels]]

thumb|right|200px|Elephants are an example of a mammalian folivore.

thumb|250px|An Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) feeding on nectar through its long [[proboscis]] In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal which derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants.

thumb|250x250px|Carcass of a shrew surrounded by multiple necrophages, including a blow fly and [[burying beetle.]] Necrophages (also known as carrion feeders) are animals that feed on decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carcasses or corpses. The term derives from Greek , meaning 'dead', and , meaning 'to eat'. Many hundreds of necrophagous species have been identified including invertebrates in the insect, malacostracan and gastropod classes and vertebrates such as vultures, hyenas, quolls and wolves.

thumb|200px|Pacific brown salamander eating a worm Vermivore (from Latin vermi, meaning "worm" and vorare, "to devour") is a zoological term for animals that primarily eat worms (including annelids, nematodes, and other worm-like animals). Animals with such a diet are known to be vermivorous. Some definitions are less exclusive with respect to the diet, but limit the definition to particular animals, e.g. "Feeding on worms or insect vermin. Used of a bird."

thumb|American kestrel eating bird. An avivore is a specialized predator of birds, with birds making up a large proportion of its diet. Such bird-eating animals come from a range of groups.

type of plant-animal interaction in which granivores feed on the seeds of plants as a main or exclusive food source

thumb|right|200px|A slug ([[Lehmannia nyctelia) feeding on a mushroom]] Fungivory or mycophagy is the process of organisms consuming fungi. Many different organisms have been recorded to gain their energy from consuming fungi, including birds, mammals, insects, plants, amoebas, gastropods, nematodes, bacteria and other fungi. Some of these, which only eat fungi, are called fungivores whereas others eat fungi as only part of their diet, being omnivores.

A molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specialises in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods and cephalopods. Known molluscivores include numerous predatory (and often cannibalistic) molluscs, (e.g. octopuses, murexes, decollate snails and oyster drills), arthropods such as crabs and firefly larvae, and vertebrates such as fish, birds and mammals. Molluscivory is performed in a variety of ways with some animals highly adapted to this method of feeding. A similar behaviour, durophagy, describes the feeding of animals that consume hard-shelled or exoskeleton bearing o

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thumb|right|250px|A honeybee collecting pollen from a flower thumb|A pollen wasp (Jugurtia dispar), a type of wasp that exclusively feeds its [[larvae pollen. This is an example of a palynivore that is only a palynivore for part of its life span, as the adults of the species do not consume pollen]] In zoology, a palynivore /pəˈlɪnəvɔːɹ/, meaning "pollen eater" (from Greek παλύνω palunō, "strew, sprinkle", and Latin, vorare, meaning "to devour") is an herbivorous animal which selectively eats the nutrient-rich pollen produced by angiosperms and gymnosperms. Most true palynivores are insects or

In zoology, a florivore (not to be confused with a folivore) is an animal that primarily eats products of flowers. Florivores are types of herbivores (often referred to as floral herbivores), yet within the feeding behavior of florivory, there is a range of other more specific feeding behaviors, including, but not limited to: Granivory: the consumption of grain and seeds Nectarivory: the consumption of flower nectar Palynivory: the consumption of flower pollen Frugivory: the consumption of fruit

thumb|Hawksbill sea turtle, a spongivore A spongivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating animals of the phylum Porifera, commonly called sea sponges, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their diet, spongivore animals like the hawksbill turtle have developed sharp, narrow bird-like beak that allows them to reach within crevices on the reef to obtain sponges.

thumb|Yellow longnose butterflyfish browsing on coral polyps

thumb|Two Julia Butterflies (Dryas iulia) drinking tears from turtles in [[Ecuador.]] Lachryphagy is the practice of feeding on tears and other eye secretions. Certain bees, butterflies, and flies have been observed feeding on the tears of reptiles, birds, and mammals, including humans. Lachryphagous insects gather nutrients, especially sodium and proteins, from the tears. Lachryphagous feeding can be unbothersome or painful, with some feeding insects damaging the eye and introducing pathogens to the host. Lachryphagy has been studied as a form of parasitism, commensalism, and puddling.

thumb|Honey badgers (genus [[Mellivora) are named for their diet of honey.]]

Microbivory (adj. microbivorous, microbivore) is a feeding behavior consisting of eating microbes (especially bacteria) practiced by animals of the mesofauna, microfauna and meiofauna.

A gummivore is an omnivorous animal whose diet consists primarily of the gums and saps of trees (about 90%) and insects for protein. Notable gummivores include arboreal, terrestrial primates like certain marmosets and lemurs. These animals that live off of the injuries of trees live from about 8m off of the ground up to the canopies. The feeding habit of gummivores is gummivory.