selective feeding

behavior

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selective feeding, food procurement in which the animal exercises choice over the type of food being taken, as opposed to filter feeding, in which food is taken randomly. Selective feeders may be broadly divided into herbivores and carnivores, which take plant and animal food, respectively, and omnivores, which eat both. These groups may be further divided by the specific type of food preferred. Some animals, called scavengers, or carrion-feeders, eat the dead and decomposing bodies of others.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.