Different types of animals eat different types of food: carnivores eat meat, herbivores eat plants, and omnivores eat both plants and meat. Examples of animals with more specialized diets include fructivores (fruit eaters); and folivores (leaf eaters).

On this page you’ll find facts on carnivores, omnivores and herbivores, plus many examples of more specialized animal diets.

Page Index

• Nutrients
• Autotrophs Vs Heterotrophs
• Carnivores
• Herbivores
• Omnivores

Specialist Animal Diets

Specialist Carnivores

• Avivore
• Corallivore
• Sanguivore
• Insectivore
• Myrmecophagy
• Molluscivore
• Ophiophagy
• Piscivore
• Spongivore
• Vermivore

Specialist Herbivores

• Exudativore
• Folivore
• Frugivore
• Granivore
• Nectarivore
• Xylophagy
• Fungivore
• Bacterivore

Other Animal Diets

• Detritivore
• Coprophagy

Nutrients

All organisms, be they animal, plant, fungus, or even single-celled lifeforms such as bacteria, need the nutrients contained in food in order to live.

Nutrients provide an organism with both energy and material from which new cells can be made. They include vital …

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