Omnivorousness ( Latin omnivorae or Latin omniphagae ), or euryphagia (from other Greek. Εὐρύς - “wide” + φάγος - “lover to eat”), or pantophagy (from Greek pán, genus case pantós - “everything” and phagéin - “eat”, “devour”), or myxophagy (from the Greek. μῖξις - “mixing” and φάγος ) - the ability of animals to eat the widest range of organisms: plant , animal or mushroom food. It is an extreme degree of polyphagy [1] .
For the first time, “omnivorous” as a characteristic of certain animal species was introduced by Aristotle in “ Animal History ”: “A bear is an omnivorous animal” [2] .
Some of the omnivores are able to consume carrion . Omnivores cannot be attributed to any one trophic level , therefore it is believed that such organisms represent several trophic levels at once, and their participation in each level is proportional to the composition of their diet.
Human omnivore
Omnivorousness is characteristic of man [3] [4] [5] . In addition, a person is able to eat and safely digest raw, not thermally processed, animal meat (an example of this is the cuisine of the peoples of the North , which is characterized by the use of raw meat and fish in fresh, frozen or dried form, Japanese cuisine , which also widespread use of raw fish and seafood, Italian carpaccio , etc.).
The diet of chimpanzees consists mainly of fruits, herbs, seeds, nuts, and animal food is not more than 5% [6] . However, chimpanzees actively eat insects (ants, termites), feast on bird eggs, chicks, and sometimes small mammals [7] . Their victims, for example, in Tanzania were 15 species of mammals and 9 species of birds. Among these victims are primates: monkeys , colobus , young baboons , half- monkeys of galago and potto . Chimpanzees also allow cannibalism , that is, eating individuals of their own species [6] [8] .
Links
- ↑ Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. ed. M.S. Gilyarov ; Editorial: A.A. Baev , G.G. Vinberg, G.A. Zavarzin et al. - M .: Sov. Encyclopedia , 1986.- S. 493.- 831 p. - 100,000 copies.
- ↑ Animal History , Prince 8. Ch. five
- ↑ Omnivore // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- ↑ Euryphagy // Big Medical Dictionary , 2000
- ↑ John McArdle, Ph.D. Humans are Omnivores, Adapted from a talk
- ↑ 1 2 Friedman E.P. “Entertaining Primatology” - M.: Knowledge , 1985.
- ↑ Chimpanzee // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- ↑ Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. ed. M.S. Gilyarov ; Editorial: A.A. Baev , G.G. Vinberg, G.A. Zavarzin et al. - M .: Sov. Encyclopedia , 1986.- S. 720.- 831 p. - 100,000 copies.
See also
- Herbivores
- Carnivores