List of herbivorous animals
Herbivores are animals that eat plants. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which a heterotrophic organism consumes other organisms, principally autotrophs[1] such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in general are known as 1st level consumers.
Mammals
Mammals (formally Mammalia) are a class of vertebrate, air-breathing animals whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary glands while both males and females are characterized by hair and/or fur, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain. Herbivorous mammals include:
Reptiles
Squamata (lizards, snakes, and worm lizards)
- Uromastyx (spiny-tailed lizards) (primarily herbivorous,)
- Solomon Islands skink
- Iguanas (mostly herbivorous)
- Lesser Antillean Iguana
- Green iguana
Testudines (turtles, terrapins and tortoises)
Birds
Birds (class: Aves) are winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most varied of tetrapod vertebrates. Some birds are herbivorous, and some are not.
Fish
- Herbivorous fish play a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, especially in tropical reefs, where they promote a balance between corals and macroalgae. Herbivorous fish include Acanthurus lineatus or lined surgeonfish (also known as blue-banded surgeonfish, blue-lined surgeonfish, clown surgeonfish, pajama tang, striped surgeonfish, and zebra surgeonfish), Acanthurus nigrofuscus known as the Lavender Tang, Brown Tang, or Spot-Cheeked Surgeonfish, and Zebrasoma scopas known as the brown tang, two-tone tang, scopas tang or brush-tail tang.[4]
- The unicornfishes (Nasinae) genus is primarily herbivorous.
- Most of the nearly 100 species of the parrotfish family are herbivores.[5][6]
Invertebrates
Other invertebrates
- Garden snails and slugs
- Earthworms are detrivores
References
- Campbell, N. A. (1996) Biology (4th edition) Benjamin Cummings, New York ISBN 0-8053-1957-3
- Discovering Dinosaurs. Curriculum Corporation. 2001. ISBN 9781876973063. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
- Hill, R. L., Mendelson, J. R. & Stabile, J. L. 2015. Direct observation and review of herbivory in Sirenidae (Amphibia: Caudata). Southeastern Naturalist 14, N5-N9.
- Herbivory in Fish
- Lieske, E., and Myers, R. (1999). Coral Reef Fishes. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00481-1
- What Marine Animals are Herbivores?