Scavenging, or necrophagy, is a carnivorous A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' (Latin carne meaning 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to devour'), is an animal that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of vertebrate and/or invertebrate animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging. Animals that depend solely on animal flesh for their feeding behaviour Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffix -vore from Latin vorare, meaning 'to devour', or phagy, from Greek φαγειν, meaning 'to eat' in which a predator consumes corpses A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body. "Cadaver" is normally used as a more formal term for a body being used in medical training or research or carrion Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters, or scavengers, include Hyenas, Vultures, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, Black Bears, Komodo Dragons, Bald Eagles, Raccoons, flying squirrels, Humans and Blue-tongued lizards that were not killed to be eaten by the predator or others of its species. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem The term ecosystem refers to the combined physical and biological components of an environment. An ecosystem is generally an area within the natural environment in which physical factors of the environment, such as rocks and soil, function together along with interdependent (biotic) organisms, such as plants and animals, within the same habitat by contributing to the decomposition Decomposition is the process by which tissues of a dead organism break down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for new growth and development of living organisms because it recycles the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death. It is a cascade of of dead animal remains. Decomposers Decomposers are organisms that eat the dead or decaying organisms, and in doing so carry out the natural process of decomposition. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic substrates to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development. Decomposers use deceased organisms and non- complete this process, by consuming the remains left by scavengers.
Well known scavengers include vultures Vultures are scavenging birds, feeding mostly on the carcasses of dead animals. Vultures are found on every continent except Antarctica and Oceania, burying beetles Burying beetles or sexton beetles are the best-known members of the family Silphidae (carrion beetles). Burying beetles are true to their name. Most of these beetles are black with red markings on the elytra (forewings). They bury the carcasses of small vertebrates such as birds and rodents as a food source for their larvae. They are unusual among, blowflies Blow-flies are insects in the Order Diptera, family Calliphoridae. The family is known to be non-monophyletic, but much remains disputed regarding proper treatment of the constituent units, some of which are occasionally accorded family status (e.g., Bengaliidae, Helicoboscidae, Polleniidae, Rhiniidae), yellowjackets Yellow jacket or yellow-jacket is the common name in North America for predatory wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of these are black-and-yellow; some are black-and-white , while others may have the abdomen background color red, and raccoons The raccoon , sometimes spelled as racoon, and also known as the common raccoon, North American raccoon, northern raccoon and colloquially as coon, is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. As a result of escapes and deliberate introductions in the mid-20th century, raccoons are now also distributed across the European mainland, the. Many large carnivores A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' (Latin carne meaning 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to devour'), is an animal that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of vertebrate and/or invertebrate animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging. Animals that depend solely on animal flesh for their that hunt regularly, such as hyenas The Hyaenidae is a mammalian family of order Carnivora. The Hyaenidae family, native to both African and Asian continents, consists of four living species, the Striped Hyena and Brown Hyena (genus Hyaena), the Spotted Hyena (genus Crocuta), and the Aardwolf (genus Proteles) and lions The Lion is one of four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with a critically endangered remnant population in northwest India, having disappeared, will scavenge if given the chance or use their size and ferocity to intimidate the original hunters.
Animals which consume feces Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus (or cloaca) during defecation, such as dung beetles Dung beetles are beetles that feed partly or exclusively on faeces. All of these species belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea; most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae. This beetle can also be referred to as the scarab beetle. As most species of Scarabaeinae feed exclusively on faeces, that, are referred to as coprovores Coprophagia is the consumption of feces, from the Greek κόπρος copros and φαγεῖν phagein ("to eat"). Many animal species practice coprophagia as a matter of course; other species do not normally consume feces but may do so under unusual conditions. Animals which primarily consume dead plants are referred to as detritivores Detritivores, also known as detritus feeders or saprophages, are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus . By doing so, they contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles. The eating of carrion from the same species is referred to as cannibalism In zoology, cannibalism is the act of one individual of a species consuming all or part of another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded for more than 1500 species[citation needed].
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Fiona
2009-03-20 06:31:55
Seattlepi.com: . Scavengers. Manifesto authors share frugal wisdom for hard times. Filed under: US West Coast, News Articles, Recycling Info, The Web, Interesting Stuff Fiona @ 6:31 am. With Americans discarding 245 million tons of . ...
