Types of Animals: Herbivores, Omnivores and Carnivores
Types of animals are three different categories that exist in the world and include herbivores, omnivores and carnivores. Herbivores are animals that eat only plants. Carnivores are animals that eat only meat. Omnivores are animals that eat both plants and meat. The big five game animals also fall under some of the three types, meaning some game are herbivores like the elephant, Rhinos and Buffaloes, others are carnivores including the lion and leopard
The Animal Kingdom
All animals belong to a biological kingdom called kingdom Animalia which is then broken down into over 30 groups, or phylum. About 75% of all species on Earth are animals. Animals are then broken down into two types: vertebrates and invertebrates.
- Animals with a backbone are vertebrates.
- Vertebrates belong to the phylum called Phylum Chordata.
- Vertebrates are further broken down into five classes: amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles.
- Animals without a backbone are invertebrates.
- Most invertebrates are in the phylum Arthropoda.
Vertebrates are further broken down into five classes: amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles. Animals without backbones are called invertebrates. And these range from well known animals like jellyfish, corals, slugs, snails, mussels, octopuses, crabs, shrimps, spiders, butterflies and beetles to much less well known animals including flatworms, tapeworms, siphunculids, sea-mats and ticks plus many more.
The 3 Types of Animals include:
Herbivores
The herbivores are organisms that mainly feed on plants. Herbivores vary in sizes, that is from small insects like aphids to large, lumbering elephants. Herbivores may be domesticated or wild and their examples include horse, cow, goats, donkey, buffalo, impala or elephants and many more.
Omnivores
The Omnivores are a diverse group of animals that eat both plants and meat. Examples of omnivores include bears, birds, dogs, raccoons, foxes, certain insects and human beings. Animals that hunt other animals to eat them are called predators, whereas those that are hunted are known as prey. And since omnivores hunt and can be hunted, they can be both predators and prey. There are also numerous omnivorous birds such chickens, crows, and robins. Some reptiles like lizards and turtles are also omnivorous.
Carnivores
A carnivore is an organism that mostly feeds on meat or the flesh of other animals. At times, carnivores are called predators and the organisms that carnivores hunt are referred to as prey. Carnivores are a major part of the food web, a description of which organisms eat other organisms in the wild.