Carnivoran facts for kids
Quick facts for kids CarnivoraTemporal range: Palaeocene to Recent
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Carnivora
Bowdich, 1821
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The order Carnivora is a group of mammals. The group is divided into the "cat-like" Feliformia and the "dog-like" Caniformia.
Animals of the order Carnivora are carnivores, a term which applies to all flesh-eaters. If one needs to refer to members of the order, then carnivorans is used. Many species of Carnivora are actually omnivores, and a few of them, like the giant panda, eat mostly plants.
The order includes aquatic relatives in the superfamily Pinnipedia, the walruses and seals.
Contents
Taxonomy
- Order Carnivora
- Suborder Feliformia ("cat-like")
- Family Felidae: cats
- Family Viverridae
- Family Hyaenidae: hyenas
- Family Eupleridae
- Family Herpestidae: mongooses
- Suborder Caniformia ("dog-like")
- Family Canidae: dogs, foxes, wolves, jackals, and coyotes
- Family Ursidae: bears
- Family Ailuridae: red pandas
- Family Mephitidae: skunks
- Family Mustelidae: martins, badgers, and minks
- Family Procyonidae: racoons
- Superfamily Pinnipedia : walruses, and seals
- Family Odobenidae
- Family Otariidae
- Family Phocidae
- Suborder Feliformia ("cat-like")
Carnivoramorpha
The Carnivores are linked with the Miacids and Viverravids in an unranked clade, the Carnivoramorpha:
- †Miacoidea
- †Viverravidae
- †Miacidae (Miacis)
- Carnivora
The carnivores known as †Creodonts have some relation to these groups, but are placed outside the Carnivoramorpha. The †Mesonychids are another extinct group of early carnivores, which are also not in the Carnivoramorpha.
Images for kids
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Life reconstruction of Tapocyon robustus, a species of miacid
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Skull of a fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox). Note the large and conical canine and carnassial teeth common in feliforms.
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A black-backed jackal (Lupulella mesomelas) trying to predate on a brown fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus) pup. These two species illustrate the diversity in bodyplan seen among carnivorans, especially between pinnipeds and their terrestrial relatives.
See also
In Spanish: Carnivora para niños
