Scavengers like vultures help prevent diseases from spreading by eating the remains of dead animals. Predators keep populations of prey species from becoming too large. Carnivores play an important role in keeping ecosystems balanced. Most carnivorous plants consume insects, but some larger plants feast on small animals, such as frogs or mice. They are one of the few animals that feed exclusively on carrion (decaying flesh of dead animals). ©faisal magnet/ Vultures are the most-recognizable scavenger animals in the world. There are about 600 species of carnivorous plants, the most well-known being the Venus flytrap ( Dionaea muscipula). Vultures Red-headed vultures are found largely in India and sometimes in parts of Southeast Asia. Carnivores also have a single stomach chamber and a simple digestive system, unlike herbivores, who often have a stomach with multiple chambers and a specialized digestive system. Additionally, many carnivores have relatively large brains. For example, most carnivores have sharp teeth adapted for capturing prey and tearing flesh. Carnivores vary in shape and size, but they often share similar traits. Animals whose diet is only about 30 percent meat are called hypocarnivores. Animals whose diet consists of about 50 percent meat are called mesocarnivores. Animals that get 70 percent or more of their nutrition from meat are called obligate carnivores or hypercarnivores. Some carnivores, known as scavengers, feed on the carcasses of already-dead animals. Carnivores that have no natural predators are known as apex predators they occupy the top of the food chain. Carnivores are divided into three different categories based on what percentage of their diet consists of meat. The animals that eat secondary consumers, like owls that eat rodents, are known as tertiary consumers. The animals that eat secondary consumers, like owls that eat rodents, are known as tertiary consumers. Many carnivores get their energy and nutrients by eating herbivores, omnivores, and other carnivores. An omnivore, such as a human, is an organism that eats plants and animals. Carnivores and omnivores occupy the third trophic level. Each food chain consists of several trophic levels, which describe an organism’s role in an ecosystem. An animal’s diet determines where it falls on the food chain, a sequence of organisms that provide energy and nutrients for other organisms.

A carnivorous animal that hunts other animals is called a predator an animal that is hunted is called prey. A carnivore is an organism, in most cases an animal, that eats meat.

Scavengers animal