Definition
noun
A type of diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal meat or tissues
Supplement
A carnivorous diet is a type of diet that includes animal flesh or meat, such as poultry, fish, seafood, beef, pork and eggs. Organisms that prefer carnivorous diet are called carnivores. They derive their energy and nutrition mainly or exclusively from animals (through predation or scavenging) rather than on other food types such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and dairy food.
Carnivorous diets may be classified according to the kind of animals included in the diet. For example, a diet consisting mainly of insects is called an insectivorous diet. Another is the piscivorous diet wherein the diet primarily consists of fish.
Another classification of carnivorous diets is based on the percentage of meat in their diet:
- hypercarnivorous diet
- mesocarnivorous diet
- hypocarnivorous diet
Animals that partake a carnivorous diet include tigers, lions, frogs, cats, alligators, crocodiles, hyenas, falcons, civets, coyotes, dingos, foxes, jackals, wolves, weasels, skunks, raccoons, otters, ocelots, mongooses, lynxes, leopards, jaguars, etc. These animals need animal meat for their survival. They require a high protein diet, which can be met through consuming animal tissues. Although they may eat a very small amount of plant tissues, they are not fully physiologically equipped to digest plenty of plant tissues or vegetation unlike herbivores (and ominivores) that are.
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