Carnivores: Facts About Meat Eaters.

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Mountain lions are obligate carnivores.
Credit: Shutterstock
▼ A carnivore is an animal or plant that eats the flesh of animals. Most, but not all, carnivorous animals are members of the Carnivora order; but, not all members of the Carnivora order are carnivorous.
"A carnivore is simply any species that eats meat, and this can range from carnivorous plants and insects to what we typically think of when we hear the word carnivore, like tigers or wolves," said Kyle McCarthy, an assistant professor of wildlife ecology in the University of Delaware's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Carnivora — or "flesh devourers," in Latin — is an order of placental mammals that includes canids such as wolves and dogs, felids (cats), ursids (bears), mustelids (weasels), procyonids (raccoons), pinnipeds (seals) and others, according to Encyclopedia  Britannica. The order consists of 12 families and 270 species in all.
While some carnivores eat only meat, other carnivores also supplement their diets with vegetation on occasion. For example, most bears are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and meat, McCarthy explained.
Carnivorous plants
Animals aren't the only carnivores — there are more than 600 species of carnivorous plants, according to the Botanical Society of  America. These plants get at least some of their nutrients by trapping and digesting insects and sometimes even small frogs and  mammals. Because the most common prey for most carnivorous plants are insects, these leafy flesh-eaters are also called insectivorous plants.
While most plants absorb nitrogen from the soil through their roots, carnivorous plantsget nitrogen from animal prey that gets trapped in their modified leaves. The traps work in various ways. A Venus flytrap(Dionea muscipula), for example, has hinged leaves that snap shut when trigger hairs are touched. A pitcher plant has a pitfall trap; its leaves fold into deep pits filled with digestive enzymes. And sundews and butterworts have sticky mucus on their stalks that stops insects in their tracks.

Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) with a trapped fly.
Credit: Marco Uliana
Carnivore types
There are three different categories of carnivores based on the level of meat consumption: hypercarnivores, mesocarnivores and hypocarnivores. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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