Feeding Strategies
Feeding Strategies
Animals use a variety of structures and behaviors to feed on other organisms
Learning Objective: Describe different feeding strategies and the structures animals possess to make these strategies possible.
Animals utilize a variety of feeding strategies to obtain sufficient energy and nutrients.
We’ll start with a review of general functional groups, including fixing a few errors.
Watch this video; you can select the closed captioning “cc” option if you would like to see the text.
Now, we’ll relate the different functional groups to vertebrate jaws.
Compare the jaws and teeth of these three dinosaur replicas. Which dinosaur was an herbivore?
Let’s take a closer look at a group of herbivores: the deer.
Species in the mammalian Family Cervidae are all called “deer,” and include over 40 species of deer, elk, reindeer (caribou), and moose.
All deer species spend most of their waking hours eating. Plant leaves are generally low in nutrients, and grazers need to eat a large bulk of plant material each day.
Deer species vary dramatically in size and are found in a variety of habitats.
Most species share these characteristics:
Antlers
Male deer grow and shed new antlers each year.
Body Form
Most deer species have long, powerful legs, large ears, and a small tail.
Red to Brown Color
Most deer species are red to brown in color, many have different colors and patterns in early development.
Deer have wide, ridged, molar teeth that grind plant material.
From the video above, what are two other species with similar diets and similar teeth?
Some of the earliest cave paintings are of deer species.
From your own experiences, how have humans been impacted by deer?
Deer get nutrients and energy from the plants they eat. The next section introduces dietary nutrients.
Check your knowledge – Feeding Strategies
Review your notes. Can your match animals structures and behaviors to specific feeding strategies? If so, move forward to the next page.
Learning Objective:
Describe different feeding strategies and the structures animals possess to make these strategies possible.
Go back to the Food Webs Guide Overview
Go forward to the Nutrients & Energy Page
Food Webs Contents
Complete all five of these sections before taking the quiz and submitting your media piece.
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