Feeding

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Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. There are many types of feeding that animals exhibit, including:

filter feeding - obtaining food suspended in the water column
deposit feeding - obtaining food particles in soil
fluid feeding - obtaining food by consuming other organisms fluids
food-mass feeding - obtaining food by eating pieces of other organisms

Another classification refers to the food groups some animals specialize in, such as:

Carnivore - meat
Detritivore - decomposing material
Folivore - leaves
Frugivore - fruits
Granivore - seeds
Herbivore - plants
Insectivore - insects
Nectarivore - nectar
Mucivore - plant juices
Mycovore - fungi
Omnivore - plants and meat
Piscivore - fishes
Sanguinivore - blood
Saprovore - dead matter
Etc.

There are also several food sources which have caused the development of specialized feeding behaviors, such as:

Ophiophagy: feeding on snakes
Hematophagy: feeding on blood
Coprophagy: feeding on faeces
Mucophagy: feeding on mucus
Cannibalism: feeding on members of the same species
Trophallaxis: regurgitation of food to another animal
Etc.

In many instances, the specialization of organisms in a specific type of food source has been one of the major causes of evolution of form and function, such as:

Many different forms of beaks in birds have evolved in function of feeding sources

mouth parts and teeth, such as in whales, vampire bats, leeches, mosquitos, predatory animals such as felines and fishes, etc
distinct forms of beaks in birds, such as in hawks, woodpeckers, pelicans, hummingbirds, parrots, kingfishers, etc.
specialized claws and other appendages, for apprehending or killing (including fingers in primates
changes in body colour for facilitating camouflage, disguise, setting up traps for preys, etc.
changes in the digestive system, such as the system of stomaches of herbivores, commensalism and symbiosis

Feeding

See also