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According to the Wikipedia:
"A carnivore ( /?k?rn?v??r/), meaning 'meat eater' (Latin carne meaning 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to devour'), is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging.[1][2] Animals that depend solely on animal flesh for their nutrient requirements are considered obligate carnivores while those that also consume non-animal food are considered facultative carnivores.[2] Omnivores also consume both animal and non-animal food, and apart from the more general definition, there is no clearly defined ratio of plant to animal material that would distinguish a facultative carnivore from an omnivore, or an omnivore from a facultative herbivore, for that matter.[3] A carnivore that sits at the top of the foodchain is an apex predator.
Plants that capture and digest insects are called carnivorous plants. Similarly, fungi that capture microscopic animals are often called carnivorous fungi."
So this would seem to be in agreement. However the word carnivorous is also used with plants and fungii. As I said these types of definitions are slippery. I would swear that I saw an extended definition of carnovore on the web, but where? In any case a state exam that calls a mushroom a carnovore is very disturbing.
But someone might want to date a mushroom because it is a fungii. (hard g, ignore the inappropriate plural)
John M. Clement
Houston, TX
Plants, even the flytrap, cannot be predators. Predators
actively hunt their prey. The flytrap has a dual role. It
has chlorophyll but can be a carnivorous pant as well. So,
it is not a predator but can act in the niche of carnivore.
Predators are animals. By extension, predators can be
carnivores or omnivores, as is the case of certain bears
which eat berries as well as hunt and eat prey. They cannot
be herbivores. Similarly, prey, by definition can be any
niche that an animal can fit into: prey can be a herbivore
(rabbit, except the famous cave rabbit in Monty Python and
the Holy Grail), but it can also be an omnivore (man), or
a=even a carnivore (smaller cat prey for a larger cat)
Marty
On Aug 8, 2011, at 7:39 PM, R. McDermott wrote:
> I don't think I've ever heard the term "predator" applied
to flora before.
> Carnivore/insectivore certainly. It seems to me that a
degree of mobility
> denied to flora is required for something to be classed as
"predator", but
> I'm not sure that there is a codified definition of the term.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> [mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On
Behalf Of John Clement
> Sent: Monday, August 08, 2011 6:40 PM
> To: 'Forum for Physics Educators'
> Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Pres. Obama to eliminate testing
portion of NCLB
>
> The definition would seem to be something that kills other
living things to
> eat them. A mushroom is classified as a detrivore because
it feeds on
> detrius or things that are already dead. I would assume a
Venus flytrap is
> considered a carnivorous plant. A herbivore eats parts of
plants, but the
> plants usually regrow. A mushroom is by no stretch of the
imagination a
> carnivore. The definition of carnivore is probably
traditionally a living
> thing that eats living animals, but it may have been
extended. These sorts
> of definitions can be slippery.
>
> Yes, a lot of the tests are just using memorized
definitions, some of which
> are ambiguous. If you are an MD and need to ask the nurse
for a scalpel,
> you can not ask for the whatchamacallit, but some of this
stuff is just
> naming mania and does not develop better thinking.
>
> John M. Clement
> Houston, TX
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
>> [mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf
>> Of chuck britton
>> Sent: Monday, August 08, 2011 4:55 PM
>> To: Forum for Physics Educators
>> Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Pres. Obama to eliminate testing
portion of NCLB
>>
>> As one who is totally unschooled in the biological sciences I
>> have to ask:
>>
>> Can any plant be classified as a predator, or does the definition
>> preclude that?
>>
>> I've always been fascinated by the Venus Flytraps that
grow near here.
>>
>> So much science testing seems to be based on somewhat
>> arbitrary definitions.
>> .
>> At 4:03 PM -0500 8/8/11, John Clement wrote:
>>> And of course there is the problem of stupid questions. The
>> state tests are
>>> full of them. The most memorable questions that I recently
>> discovered is
>>> the following:
>>>
>>> On a biology question the answer was that "a mushroom is
a predator".
>>>
>>> One wonders who they get to write and check the questions.
>> This example was
>>> supplied to me by a biology teacher who was aghast at it.
>> _______________________________________________
>
> _______________________________________________
> Forum for Physics Educators
> Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
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