Species
Carnivora
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Members of Carnivora have been feared, persecuted, and exploited by humans for centuries. There are currently 122 species on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species. Of these, 11 are near threatened, 9 are lower risk, 39 are vulnerable, 33 are endangered, 6 are critically endangered, 5 have recently gone extinct, and one, black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes), is extinct in the wild, although reintroduction efforts show promise. Another 18 are listed as data deficient. Major threats to carnivorans include habitat loss and degradation and hunting for sport and profit. Rare species often fetch top dollar on the black market, even though trade in these species is strictly regulated by CITES and by national laws. Captive breeding programs may be the last chance for the survival of some species, such as giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). In some cases, reintroduction of species into areas where they were previously extirpated has been successful, as with the wolves of Yellowstone. In order to save carnivorans from extinction in the long term, large swaths of habitat and healthy populations of prey species must be preserved in all parts of the world, and humans must learn to coexist peacefully with these animals.
- IUCN, 2004. "2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species" (On-line). Accessed December 06, 2005 at www.redlist.org.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |
As treated by Wilson and Mittermeier (2009), the mammalian order Carnivora includes 281 species in 128 genera and 16 families, although the number of species and genera recognized can be expected to fluctuate slightly as a result of new research and based on the opinions of different experts (see family taxon pages for more specific information). Of these 16 families, seven are in the suborder Feliformia and nine are in the suborder Caniformia:
Suborder Feliformia: 120 species in 56 genera
Family Nandiniidae (African Palm Civet): 1 species in 1 genus
Family Felidae (cats): 37 species in 14 genera
Family Prionodontidae (linsangs): 2 species in 1 genus
Family Viverridae (civets, genets, oyans): 34 species in 14 genera
Family Hyaenidae (hyenas): 4 species in 4 genera
Family Herpestidae (mongooses): 34 species in 15 genera
Family Eupleridae (Madagascar carnivores): 8 species in 7 genera
Suborder Caniformia: 161 species in 72 genera
Family Canidae (dogs): 35 species in 13 genera
Family Ursidae (bears): 8 species in 5 genera
Family Otariidae (sea lions): 16 species in 7 genera
Family Odobenidae (Walrus): 1 species in 1 genus
Family Phocidae (earless seals): 19 species in 13 genera
Family Ailuridae (red panda): 1 species in 1 genus
Family Procyonidae (raccoons and relatives): 12 species in 6 genera
Family Mephitidae (skunks): 12 species in 4 genera
Family Mustelidae (weasels and relatives): 57 species in 22 genera
Mammals in the order Carnivora are often referred to as carnivores. This can be confusing, however, since in both popular and scientific usage "carnivore" also means simply "meat-eating"--but many mammals not in the order Carnivora also feed largely or exclusively on meat and many members of the Carnivora are quite omnivorous (and African Palm Civets eat mainly fruit!). For clarity, therefore, some authors prefer to use the term "carnivoran" to refer to a member of the order Carnivora.
The order Carnivora is a morphologically and ecologically diverse group that is distributed across the globe and includes many of the animals humans find most "charismatic". Carnivorans range across five or six orders of magnitude in size from the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis, which can weigh in at as little as 25 g when fully grown; Larivère and Jennings 2009) to the Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina, weighing in at 2000 to 3000 kg--possibly as much as 5000kg) (Agnarsson et al. 2010; Nyakatura and Bininda-Emonds 2012).
The phylogenetic relationships among the carnivoran families have been the focus of considerable research and controversy, although the structure of some clades is now well established (see references below and EOL family pages for details). One well established finding is that the two suborders comprising the order Carnivora, Feliformia and Caniformia, are indeed reciprocally monophyletic.
- Agnarsson, I., M. Kuntner, and L.J. May-Collado. 2010. Dogs, cats, and kin: A molecular species-level phylogeny of Carnivora. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 726-745.
- Eizirik, E., W.J. Murphy, K.P. Koepfli, W.E. Johnson, J.W. Dragoo, and S.J. O'Brien. 2010. Pattern and timing of the diversification of the mammalian order Carnivora inferred from multiple nuclear gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56: 49-63.
- Flynn, J.J., J.A. Finarelli, S. Zehr, et. al. 2005. Molecular Phylogeny of the Carnivora (Mammalia): Assessing the Impact of Increased Sampling on Resolving Enigmatic Relationships. Systematic Biology 54(2): 317-337.
- Larivère, S. and A.P. Jennings. 2009. Family Mustelidae (Weasels and Relatives). Pp. 564-656 in: Wilson, D.E. & Mittermeier, R.A., eds. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 1. Carnivores. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
- Nyakatura, K. and O.R.P. Bininda-Emonds. 2012. Updating the evolutionary history of Carnivora (Mammalia): a new species-level supertree complete with divergence time estimates. BMC Biology 10:12. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-10-12
- Sato, J.J., M. Wolsan, F.J. Prevosti, et al. 2012. Evolutionary and biogeographic history of weasel-like carnivorans (Musteloidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 63: 745-757.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Leo Shapiro, Leo Shapiro |
Source | No source database. |
Carnivorans also have negative impacts on humans. They may compete with humans for game and prey on livestock. Occasionally, large carnivorans even attack and kill humans. Omnivorous species may raid fruit crops, and in urban areas carnivorans become pests when they raid garbage cans and take up residence inside chimneys and under porches. They also carry diseases and parasites, such as rabies, that can be transmitted to humans and domestic animals.
Negative Impacts: injures humans (bites or stings, carries human disease); crop pest; causes or carries domestic animal disease ; household pest
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |
Members of the mammalian order Carnivora are the descendants of a successful late Paleocene radiation of mammals whose primitive food habits were carnivorous. The name "Carnivora" is sometimes taken to mean that members of this group are all carnivorous or that all carnivorous mammals are members of this group. This is not so. Members of Carnivora have diverse food habits, although many are primarily carnivorous, and carnivory is widely distributed in mammals, being found in many other orders including bats, marsupial mammals, primates, and dolphins and whales.
We recognize 13 extant families and around 270 species of Carnivora.
- Vaughan, T., J. Ryan, N. Czaplewski. 2000. Mammalogy, 4th Edition. Toronto: Brooks Cole.
- Stains, H. 1984. Carnivores. Pp. 491-521 in S Anderson, J Jones Jr., eds. Orders and Families of Recent Mammals of the World. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |
Humans benefit from carnivorans in many ways. Humans have hunted them for thousands of years for sport and for their fur, meat, and other body parts. Bones and soft tissues of tigers (Panthera tigris) and other large carnivores have long been used in traditional Asian medicine. Millions of small carnivores such as red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and mink (Neovison vison) are raised on farms for their fur. Carnivorans are also valuable to humans for their ability to control rodents and other pests, and domesticated cats, dogs, and other carnivorans are popular pets worldwide.
Positive Impacts: pet trade ; food ; body parts are source of valuable material; ecotourism ; source of medicine or drug ; research and education; controls pest population
- Schaller, G. 1996. Introduction: Carnivores and conservation biology. Pp. 1-10 in J Gittleman, ed. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution, vol. 2. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |
Carnivores are distributed across the world, on all major land masses (except possibly Australia, where the only terrestrial member of Carnivora, dingos (Canis lupus dingo), may have been brought by man) and in all oceans.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); palearctic (Native ); oriental (Native ); ethiopian (Native ); neotropical (Native ); australian (Introduced ); antarctica (Native ); oceanic islands (Native ); arctic ocean (Native ); indian ocean (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native ); mediterranean sea (Native )
Other Geographic Terms: cosmopolitan
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |
Most members of the order Carnivora can be recognized by their enlarged fourth upper premolar and first lower molar, which together form an efficient shear for cutting meat and tendon. These teeth are referred to as the carnassial pair. The exceptions are a few forms, such as bears, raccoons, and seals, in which these teeth are secondarily modified.
Besides usually having carnassials, almost all Carnivora retain the primitive number of incisors (3/3); an exception is the sea otter, which has 2/3. The outer (3rd) incisor is often relatively large and canine-like. The canines are large and conical. The number of teeth behind the carnassials varies considerably, from 1/1 in some cats to 2/2 in bears. All teeth are rooted and diphyodont.
The skulls of carnivorans are varied in form. Most have a well-defined, transverse glenoid fossa, and the dominant motion of the jaw is in the dorsal-ventral direction. The primary muscle powering the jaw is the temporal, and sagittal crest associated with the temporal is commonly a conspicuous part of the surface of the skull. Carnivores also have a strong zygomatic arch and a relatively large braincase. The auditory bullae and the turbinals also tend to be large and complex. Carnivores are fairly intelligent animals and most have relatively large brains. All members of Carnivora have simple stomachs.
Pinnipeds are large, perhaps because water conducts heat well and large animals have a low surface area to body mass ratio, which minimizes heat loss due to conduction. Their bodies are insulated by a thick layer of fat called blubber. In all species, the external ears are small or absent, the external genitalia and nipples are hidden in slits or depressions in the body, and the tail is very small. The forelimbs and hindlimbs are transformed into paddles. In both, the proximal limb elements (humerus and femur) remain within the body, and other aspects of the limbs, limb girdles, and spine are highly specialized for swimming. Most species have a relatively short rostrum, and the orbits are large. The cheek teeth are usually homodont (no differentiation along the toothrow), and the teeth are usually shaped like simple cones.
Carnivores tend to be medium-sized animals; too small and they couldn't find enough within their capacity to kill; too large and they wouldn't be able to satisfy their appetites. However, as a group, carnivores span a wide range of body sizes. Least weasels (Mustela nivalis), the smallest carnivores, can weigh as little as 35 grams, and male southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), the largest carnivores, can weigh more than 3,600 kg. Many carnivore species are sexually dimorphic in size. Usually males are larger than females (as with fishers, lions, and wolves) but in a few species females are larger than males (as with spotted hyenas). Additionally, males of some species have ornamentation that females lack (as is the case with the inflatable probosci of male elephant seals).
Many carnivores have thick, luxurious coats, though some, like walruses, have coats that are quite sparse. Their fur comes in various colors, including black, white, orange, yellow, red, and almost every imaginable shade of gray and brown. In addition, many carnivores are striped, spotted, blotched, banded, or otherwise boldly patterned. Some species, such as gray wolves, are polymorphic for coat color. Domesticated cats and dogs exhibit thousands of combinations of coat colors and body shapes as a result of selective breeding by humans.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; heterothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry ; polymorphic
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike; female larger; male larger; sexes shaped differently; ornamentation
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |
Carnivores occupy just about every type of terrestrial habitat, and many aquatic habitats as well, from the tropics to the poles. They live in forests, deserts, mountains, grasslands, scrublands, tundra, and on open ice. Aquatic and semi-aquatic species live in freshwater rivers, lakes, and marshes, in marine coastal areas, and in the open ocean.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; polar ; terrestrial ; saltwater or marine ; freshwater
Terrestrial Biomes: tundra ; taiga ; desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest ; mountains ; icecap
Aquatic Biomes: pelagic ; lakes and ponds; rivers and streams; coastal ; brackish water
Wetlands: marsh ; swamp ; bog
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural ; riparian ; estuarine
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |
Animal matter makes up a substantial portion of the diet of most carnivorans. However, not all members of Carnivora are carnivorous. Some, such as bears and raccoons, are decidedly omnivorous, and giant pandas are primarily vegetarian. Foods consumed by carnivorans include mammals, birds and eggs, reptiles, amphibians, fish, carrion, insects and other arthropods, earthworms, mollusks, crustaceans, fruit, nuts, tubers, leaves, shoots, and plankton (on which crabeater seals specialize).
Carnivorans have various means of capturing their prey. Some ambush prey, overtaking it in a sudden burst of speed, others chase prey over long distances and slowly tire it out. Some (such as skunks) simply shuffle about and eat whatever they happen to come across. Still others scavenge from carcasses or, in urban areas, from garbage cans. Some carnivores, such as arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) are known to cache their kills for later consumption. Crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) are unique among carnivores in that they are filter feeders. They have specialized teeth which allow them to strain tiny zooplankton, their staple food, from the water.
Foraging Behavior: stores or caches food ; filter-feeding
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates, Piscivore , Eats eggs, Insectivore , Eats non-insect arthropods, Molluscivore , Scavenger ); herbivore (Folivore , Frugivore , Granivore ); omnivore ; planktivore
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |
Carnivorans are important predators in many ecosystems, acting as a "top-down" control on populations of their prey. Many are such an important control on their prey that they act as keystone species, and their removal has drastic consequences for the ecosystem. For example, wolves were recently reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after being extirpated for nearly 70 years, and their predation on elk has allowed woody plants to recover from overbrowsing.
Carnivores host a wide range of internal and external parasites, including protozoans, nematodes, trematodes, cestodes, fleas, lice, and ticks.
Ecosystem Impact: keystone species
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
- protozoans
- nematodes (Nematoda)
- trematodes (Trematoda)
- cestodes (Cestoda)
- fleas (Siphonaptera)
- lice (Anoplura)
- ticks (Acari)
- Ripple, W., R. Beschta. 2003. Wolf reintroduction, predation risk, and cottonwood recovery in Yellowstone National Park. Forest Ecology and Management, 184: 299-313.
- Roberts, L., J. Janovy Jr.. 2000. Foundations of Parasitology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Carnivora/ |