What are the mode of feeding in different organism
Answers
Animals need readymade food and therefore they depend on either plants or other animals which they eat. For example, snake eats frogs, insects eat dead bodies of animals, birds eat worms and insects etc.
Modes of Nutrition
The method of obtaining food by an organism is called modes of nutrition. There are two modes of nutrition. They are:
1) Autotrophic
2) Heterotrophic
Heterotrophic Mode of Nutrition
All the animals cannot make their own food from simple inorganic material like carbon dioxide and water. They depend on other organisms for food. This is called heterotrophic mode of nutrition. The organisms which depend on other organisms for food are called heterotrophs. For example, man, dog, cat, deer, tiger, cow, non-green plants like yeast are all heterotrophs. They depend on plants or other organisms for their food.
Types of Heterotrophic Nutrition
There are three types of heterotrophic mode of nutrition. They are:
i) Saprotrophic nutrition
ii) Parasitic nutrition
iii) Holozoic nutrition
Saprotrophic nutrition
Sapro means rotten. There are organisms which feed on dead and decaying organic matter for obtaining their food. These organisms feed on rotting wood of dead and decaying trees, rotten leaves, dead animals, rotten bread etc. Such organisms are called saprophytes.
Fungi and many bacteria are saprophytes. These saprophytes break down the complex organic matter from the dead and decaying organic matter into simpler substances outside their body. These simpler substances are then absorbed by saprophytes.
Parasitic Nutrition
It is that mode of nutrition in which organisms feed on other living organisms, called their host, without killing them. The organisms which obtain food in a manner are called parasites.
Parasites harm the host, which may be a plant or an animal. Parasites cause diseases to mankind, domestic animals, and crops. Fungi, bacteria, a few plants like cuscuta and some animals like plasmodium and roundworms undergo parasitic mode of nutrition.
Holozoic Nutrition
Holozoic is a mode of nutrition in which organisms eat solid food. The food may be a plant product or animal product. In this process, an organism ingests the complex organic food material into its body and then digests the food which is then absorbed into the body cells. The unabsorbed food is thrown out of the body of the organisms by the process of egestion. Man, cat, dog, bear, giraffe, fog, fish, etc., have holozoic mode of nutrition.
On the basis of food habits animals can be divided into three groups. They are:
i) Herbivores
ii) Carnivores
iii) Omnivores
Herbivores
Herbivores are those animals which eat only plants like grass, leaves, fruits, bark etc. The examples of herbivorous animals are cow, goat, sheep, horse, camel, deer, etc.
Carnivores
Those animals which eat only other animals are called carnivores. They do not eat plants. Lion, tiger, frog, vulture, wolf, lizard, etc., are examples of carnivorous animals. Carnivores are meat eaters.
Omnivores
Those animals which eat both plants and flesh of other animals are called omnivores. Dog, crow, sparrow, bear, ant, etc., are examples of omnivorous animals.
Explanation:
Nutrition in animals is as important as it is for plants. As we all know that plants prepare their own food by the process of photosynthesis but animals cannot prepare their own food, hence they need to depend on plants for their food. Animals derive their nutrition either by eating plants directly, they are called herbivores, or indirectly by eating animals which have consumed plants, they are called carnivores. Some animals feed on both plants and animals; these animals are termed as omnivores. All organisms require food for their
survival and growth.
Food has different components, called nutrients, like carbohydrates, fats, minerals, proteins, and vitamins, which are required for maintenance of the body. These components are complex and cannot be used as it is for nutrition in animals; so they are broken down into simpler components by the process of digestion.
Nutrition in animals
How Animals Eat Their Food?
How animals eat their food depends on the habitat they live and the nutrients they need. The process of taking in food is called ingestion. The method of ingestion varies from one animal to another.
For example-Bees and hummingbirds suck nectar from plants, while snakes like Python swallow other animals on which they prey upon and cattle feed on grass.
Different food intake strategies in different animals are the result of evolution. Among the terrestrial animals, the earliest forms were large amphibious fish eaters. While amphibians like frogs proceeded to feed on fish and following insects, reptiles began exploring two new food types, i.e. other four-legged animals, and later, plants.
The specialization of organisms towards specific food sources and of course specific ways of eating is one of the major causes of evolution of form and function. For example, the difference in mouthparts and teeth in whales, mosquitos, tigers, and sharks or distinct forms of beaks in birds, such as in hawks, woodpeckers, pelicans, hummingbirds, and parrots are results of adaptation to different types of eating by these animals.
Nutrition in Animals
Different modes of feeding, i.e. how animals eat can be classified as follows:
Filter Feeding: obtaining nutrients from particles suspended in water. Commonly used by fish.
Filter Feeding
Deposit feeding: obtaining nutrients from particles suspended in the soil. Earthworms use this mode of ingestion.
Fluid feeding: obtaining nutrients by consuming other organisms’ fluids. Honey bees, mosquitos exhibit this mode of food intake.
fluid feeding
Bulk feeding: obtaining nutrients by eating the whole of an organism. Example: Python.
bulk feeding
Ram feeding and suction feeding: ingesting prey via the fluids around it. This mode of ingestion is usually exhibited by aquatic predators such as bony fish.