Carnivora

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.

Common names of members

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

Distribution

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

Size

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

Morphology

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.

Ecology & Habitat

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

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.

Reproduction

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.