There are different types of animals. Herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores are types of animals.

What are herbivores?

Herbivores are animals that eat plants.

For example, sheet eat plants, therefore they are herbivores. 

Herbivores feed on fruits, plants, and seeds. Herbivores are able to grab and cut plants using their big front teeth called incisors. Then they grind up the plants using their back teeth called molars. Their digestive tracts are designed to handle the different types of plants they eat. 

Herbivores require a lot of food to satisfy their hunger and provide them with enough energy, which is why they spend most of their day eating.

Other examples of herbivores are cows, goats, deer, chipmunks, etc.  

What are carnivores?

Carnivores are animals that eat meat.

For example, lion eat only meat, therefore they are carnivores. 

Carnivores hunt other animals for food. Carnivores have small incisors but big canine teeth and sharp molars to cut and tear up their food. Hunting is one way to control the population so overpopulation doesn’t occur in an area.

Some animals may spend all day hunting to make sure they get enough food as they require a lot of energy. 

Other examples of carnivores are tigers, snakes, wolves, frogs, birds, etc.

What are omnivores? 

Omnivores are animals that eat both plants and meat.

For example, bears eat plants and animals, therefore they are omnivores. 

Omnivores eat both plants and animals. They are at an advantage because they have a wide variety of food to choose from and they can find this food easier too. Omnivores are able to find food at any time of the year in every type of environment. Omnivores have different types of teeth because they eat any type of food. 

• Incisors to cut food.
• Canines to tear up meat.
• Molars to grind up food. 

Other examples of omnivores are pigs, foxes, insects, birds, etc.

What is a food chain?

A food chain shows us how plants and animals depend on each other for food. The energy in the food passes along the food chain. Food chains usually begin with a plant and end with a large animal. A food chain shows the trophic levels of animals.

All living things need energy to survive. Living things get their energy from different places. Some animals eat plants, other animals, or both. The size of an animal does not determine what it eats; for example, hippos are large in size, but they eat plants.

All organisms have different features which allow them to eat different types of food. Some animals have teeth that allow them to eat specific types of food. All animals have different digestive tracts that are specialised according to the food it eats. 

Plants are known as producers, this means they make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. Animals are known as consumers, this means that they get their nutrition by eating other living things such as other animals or plants.

An animal that eats another animal is called a predator. The animal they eat is called the prey. So predators eat prey. An example is a lion that eats a deer. The lion is the predator and the deer is the prey. 

What are trophic levels? 

Trophic levels are hierarchal levels in an ecosystem. Each trophic level refers to the position in a food chain that animals occupy. These include:

• Producer
• Primary consumer
• Secondary consumer
• Tertiary consumer
• Quaternary consumer

First, a food chain begins with a producer. The primary consumers are the animals that eat the plants. The secondary consumers are the animals that eats the primary consumers. The tertiary consumers are the animals that eat the secondary consumers. When all living things die, decomposers feed on them. Some examples of decomposers are bacteria, fungi, beetles, etc.

An example of a food chain is:

Producer  ➜  Primary consumer  ➜  Secondary consumer 

Grass  ➜  Sheep  ➜  Lion 

The sheep eats the grass, and the lion eats the sheep. The plants are the producers, the sheep is the primary consumer, and the lion is the secondary consumer.

Click here to learn more about food chains.