Herbivorous animals are an important link in the food chain, which is why many have been domesticated for the benefit of humankind. Others simply continue to fascinate us in their wild state. So in this post, we'll look at some good examples of them.
Definition of herbivorous animal
A herbivorous creature is one that bases its diet exclusively on vegetables. In this way, plants and herbs are the basic elements of their diet.
Now we must tell you that the primary component of vegetables is cellulose. This is a very complex and difficult carbohydrate to digest. However, nature, thanks to hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary processes, has devised different ways so that it can be used.
How is cellulose digested?
Herbivorous animals are able to take advantage of cellulose through two digestive ways. One of these is mechanical digestion, which occurs thanks to its specialized teeth for this purpose. Their teeth have a flat shape, which allows them to crush plants.
The other way is based on the activity of the microorganisms that populate your digestive system. These microscopic creatures are responsible for the transformation of cellulose through different fermentations. Glucose plays an important role in this process.
Types of herbivorous animals
If you're wondering what herbivorous animals are , we must first tell you that they are divided into two groups: polygastric and monogastric.
Characteristics of polygastrics
These have a stomach divided into several sections that communicate with each other. Some of these sections are populated by countless microorganisms, which are responsible for fermenting the cellulose. But the teeth of these creatures are also very special, since they are flattened, while there are no incisors in the upper jaw.
This group includes animals with two hooves, better known as ruminants . They are characterized by regurgitating part of their stomach contents to chew the food again. This process is called rumination. These herbivorous animals include cattle, goats, and sheep.
Characteristics of monogastrics
This group includes those herbivorous animals that have a single stomach. In such a way that the fermentations take place in another place of the stomach. This is the case of the horse and the rabbit, to cite two examples. In these animals there is a special development of the cecum. We refer to a part of the body that is located between the end of the small intestine and the beginning of the large intestine.
They also have incisors in the upper jaw. However, being from the same group, something different happens with rabbits. These sweet creatures expel through the feces everything that the fermentation of the cecum has processed. Then these feces are consumed by the sweet and tender little creatures themselves, so as not to waste the nutrients that make them up.
But rabbits also show a very particular dentition, highlighting their teeth that never stop growing.
examples of herbivorous animals
Finally, we will give you some examples of the most well-known and important herbivorous animals .
Cow
This important herbivore spends about eight hours a day feeding. His tongue is rough but easy to move. It has special teeth that cut grass. The digestion of the cow occurs in two stages: the first is when it swallows the food and the second, when it ruminates.
Horse
If you still don't know what horses eat , we'll tell you here. These famous herbivorous animals have powerful teeth for tearing off blades of grass. But when they're stabled, their diet is usually supplemented with hay, carrots, apples, and beets. They generally eat quite a lot, but in three meals a day.
Rhino
This is undoubtedly one of the herbivorous animals that requires the most food and its fame as a glutton is well justified by its colossal body. But it is also a demanding creature for its food. It turns out that while their digestive tract supports the woody fiber of plants, they lean toward soft leaves.
The black rhinoceros has an upper lip with which it cuts the ends of the branches. While the white species prefers low grass. The Javan and Sumatran are known to be able to fell trees to eat their shoots and leaves.
Lazy
This other herbivore eats young shoots and leaves of the plant known as Cecropia. Sloths have evolved very well, adapting to arboreal habits. For this reason they move so slowly among the highest foliage, which gives rise to their name.
But walking is not the only thing that slows them down. Digestion also requires time. It is so slow that it can take up to a month to complete.
Goat
They can live in rocky areas or on high peaks surrounded by precipices, but they always manage to eat the few plants that occur in these extreme places. They prefer to feed in the early hours of the morning, which would be the goats' breakfast. In this way they take advantage of the humidity of the dew that covers the leaves and flowers, which facilitates their ingestion. Their palate is undemanding, as they are satisfied with thorns or weeds.
Sheep
The majority of sheep breeds feed on grasses and short plants. They remove the body, or perhaps the teeth, from the higher, woody parts of plants. They have adapted lips and tongue to make it easier for them to choose the best leaves. They also have a digestive organ similar to that of cows, since it is made up of four stomachs, on the understanding that like those they are ruminants.
Iguana
Of course, the iguana is another herbivorous animal. This reptile varies its diet depending on its life stage. However, it is vegetarian most of the time. It turns out that these exotic animals , when young, combine their diet of grasses with small insects, but in adulthood they become entirely herbivorous.
Hippo
As with the rhinoceros, it is hard to believe that a creature as large as the hippopotamus can sustain itself by eating only plants, especially grass.
In such a way that its feeding represents most of the time of this colossal herbivore. So he eats during the day and at night to keep him going. It even does it under water. As a curious fact, the hippopotamus eats 50 kg of leaves per day, which it swallows without chewing, also so that it yields.
We hope these examples can clear up any doubts you may have about which animals are herbivores.
