Omnivore

As an omnivore, omnivores (Latin of omnivorous from omnis, everything ' and vorare, eat ') or Pantophage (of pantophag from Greek παντός pantos, pan to πᾶν genitive 'everything', and φαγεῖν phagein, eat ') are animals whose occupation of food is composed of different kinds of foods from plants and animals. Omnivores are a taxonomic group, but include several not more closely related species. Typical representatives are, for example, rats, pigs and humans.

The omnivores can be defined as animals that feed on plant and animal organisms. A more general definition of Omnivorie is, if a species that feeds on organisms of different trophic levels, ie about by primary producers (plants) and consumers ( animals).

Omnivorie is not always intended. So take cows feeding on grass in the grass necessarily discriminatory herbivorous insects. Cows and other grazers are therefore not strictly a pure herbivores ( plant eaters ), but omnivores. Many herbivores supplement their diets but also specifically with animal food that is rich in protein than plant food. So some herbivore itself insects are cannibalistic in its early development.

In theoretical models Omnivorie was long seen as destabilizing for predator-prey population systems. The presence of omnivorous species in predator-prey models resulted in a high probability of extinction of species. But was offset by the frequency of Omnivorie in natural systems. Should the models be correct, but Omnivorie should rarely occur. Recent studies with more realistic models then also showed that Omnivorie does not necessarily lead to higher extinction rates.

The term pantophag for animals that eat plant and animal matter, a Extrempol the diet width ( used by a diversity of animal food), the other representing the Extrempol Monophagie.

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• Diet type