Food Habits
As a group, mammals eat an enormous variety of organisms. Many mammals can be carnivores (e.g., most species within Carnivora), herbivores (e.g., Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla), or omnivores (e.g., many primates). Mammals eat both invertebrates and vertebrates (including other mammals), plants (including fruit, nectar, foliage, wood, roots, seeds, etc.) and fungi. Being endotherms, mammals require much more food than ectotherms of similar proportions. Thus, relatively few mammals can have a large impact on the populations of their food items.
As a group, mammals eat an enormous variety of organisms. Many mammals can be carnivores (e.g., most species within Carnivora), herbivores (e.g., Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla), or omnivores (e.g., many primates). Mammals eat both invertebrates and vertebrates (including other mammals), plants (including fruit, nectar, foliage, wood, roots, seeds, etc.) and fungi. Being endotherms, mammals require much more food than ectotherms of similar proportions. Thus, relatively few mammals can have a large impact on the populations of their food items.