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Wildlife Words - herbivorous

We’ve spent the last few posts on Wildlife Words talking about meat eaters, and now it’s time to learn about another way for animals to eat…

herbivorous

Pronunciation: \ˌ(h)ər-ˈbiv-rəs, -ˈbi-və-\
Function: adjective
Etymology: New Latin herbivorus, from Latin herba grass + -vorus -vorous
Date: 1661

: feeding on plants
— her·biv·o·ry \-ˈbi-və-rē\ noun

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

Herbivores love to eat plants…  If they were humans, we would call them vegetarians!

While herbivores are not meat eaters, they can still be dangerous and will attack other animals (and humans) to defend themselves.  The elephant is a great example!

This entry was posted on February 26, 2008 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Wildlife Words. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Wildlife Words - herbivorous”

  1. Wildlife Words - frugivorous « The Noah’s Pals Blog Says:
    May 5, 2008 at 5:01 pm

    [...] The Noah’s Pals Blog Learn about endangered and vulnerable animals. Play great games and win cool prizes. « Wildlife Words - herbivorous [...]