食肉目 Carnivora

肉食动物（Carnivora）源于拉丁语 carō（"肉、肉體"）和拉丁语 -vorus（"-吃,-吞噬"）,意为 "肉食者",指的是这些动物大多以肉为食,是有肉食行为的動物.

Carnivora, from Latin carō (“meat, flesh”) and Latin -vorus (“-eating, -devouring”), means “meat-eater”, in reference to the fact that the majority of these animals have a meat-based diet, a carnivorous behavior.

種的俗名 Common names of members

狐狸,狼,獅子,老虎,熊,鬣狗,獴,浣熊, 鼬和海豹

Foxes, wolves, lions, tigers, bears, hyenas, mongooses, raccoons, mustelids and seals.

分佈 Distribution

世界各地都有陆生和水生食肉动物,只有澳大利亚没有原生的陆生食肉动物.

All around the world in both land and aquatic, except Australia with no native terrestrial carnivora.

體型 Size

牠们有大量不同的體型體態,形状和尺寸也多种多样,从 114 毫米、29 克到 6 米、4000 公斤不等.

They come in a very large array of different body plans with a wide diversity of shapes and sizes, from 114 mm and 29 g to 6 m and 4,000 kg

形態描述 Morphology

所有种类的食肉动物都是四足动物,大多数食肉动物的前足有五个指头,后足有四个指头.陆生食肉动物的脚有软垫.猫、鬣狗和狗的脚可以是指趾式的（脚趾着地站立）,熊、臭鼬、浣熊、黄鼠狼、果子狸和獴的脚可以是跖式的（脚趾和跖骨平放在地上站立）.在针足类动物（海豹、海象）中,四肢被改造成了蹼.犬齿通常较大,呈圆锥形,厚实且抗压.所有陆生食肉类动物的每个下顎每側都有三颗切齒.

All species of carnivorans are quadrupedal and most have five digits on the front feet and four digits on the back feet. In terrestrial carnivorans, the feet have soft pads. The feet can either be digitigrade (stands with its toes on the ground) as seen in cats, hyenas and dogs or plantigrade (stands with the toes and metatarsals flat on the ground) as seen in bears, skunks, raccoons, weasels, civets and mongooses. In pinnipeds (seals, walruses), the limbs have been modified into flippers. The canine teeth are usually large, conical, thick and stress resistant. All of the terrestrial species of carnivorans have three incisors on each side of each jaw.

生態與棲息地 Ecology & Habitat

所有陆地栖息地：森林、稀树草原、山脉、沙漠、极地冰原等.

许多水生栖息地：河流、湖泊、沿海地区、海洋等.

Any kind of forested or unforested environment. They roost in a variety of places, including buildings, caves, tree hollows, and foliage.

食性 Diet

They are insectivorous, though consume other arthropods such as spiders, and employ two main foraging strategies. The first strategy is flying slow and low over the ground, hunting among trees and bushes. Some species who use this strategy are able to hover over prey and glean them from the substrate. The other strategy is known as perch feeding: individuals roost on feeding perches and wait for prey to fly past, then fly out to capture it.

大多数物种的食物以肉类为主（昆虫、鸟类、爬行动物、两栖动物、鱼类、哺乳动物等）,但也有许多物种以杂食（水果、坚果、蜂蜜等）作为补充.

Reproduction 繁殖

牠们的孕期相对较长（长达 15 个月）.哺乳期因物种而异.在熊等独居物种中,只有雌性会哺育后代.在狼等组成社会群体的物种中,后代将由整个群体哺育.

Most bat species are polygynous, where one male mates with multiple females, but there are polygynandry systems too, where multiple males mate with multiple females. Females are responsible for most of the parenting care. Males responsible for feeding and protecting young. Newborn bats cannot fly so they stay in the dwell or climb on their mothers. Usually they can fly after 2-4 weeks.