On this page you’ll discover all our Omnivorous Animals, but first…
Interesting Facts about Omnivorous Animals
While some animals eat only plants, and others eat only meat, most animals eat some mix of the two. These animals are called omnivorous meaning that they have developed the ability to digest and draw energy from a lot of different kinds of food sources in their environments.
- A lot of your favorite animals are omnivorous chickens, horses, swans, lemurs, gorillas, dolphins, toucans, and more. You could fill a whole zoo with them! Why not try? Sketch out the plans for a new zoo featuring only omnivores. How long before you run out of room on your paper?
- Just because omnivores eat plant and animal matter doesn’t mean that they all eat the same kinds. Omnivores have pretty diverse diets based on their environments and means of obtaining food. Pick another kind of omnivore and pretend that it’s coming over for dinner. Decorate some placemats in its honor and serve only dishes that you think it would like. Is it a dolphin? Maybe you’d serve a shrimp salad. How about an ant? Then you’d eat mostly fruit and maybe a bit of wood and other kinds of ants. Hmm, so maybe just the fruit then?
- One of the biggest differences between herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores is their teeth. Pick an animal from each category and draw it for comparison and include a close up of its teeth if you can! On the outside they might have a lot in common, but details can reveal a lot.
- Omnivores also occupy different places on the food chain and have different predator/prey relationships with one another. Try designing an illustrated food chain or food web to help you understand the difference.
- Humans are omnivores too! Take some extra time in your lesson or research to learn a little bit about diet and the reason that we need all different kinds of energy and food sources. Use classic tools like the food pyramid and supplement it with an examination of other omnivores and how they achieve balance!
