Saturday, January 16, 2010

Besides primates and squirrels, what other animals bring their food to their mouths when eating?

This question arose when watching a squirrel eat an acorn this morning.Besides primates and squirrels, what other animals bring their food to their mouths when eating?
In addition to the many already mentioned, pandas are noted for doing this as well - and even have a modified nodule of one of the bones of their wrist that acts as a thumb to allow them to hold bamboo while they feed.





Elephants are another one, although they of course use their trunks instead of their forepaws for food manipulation. Tapirs and rhinos use prehensile lips or short trunks to do the same.





Critters like giraffes and chameleons also use their tongues to pull food into their mouths.





One of the cooler adaptations to do this occurs in dragonfly larvae. In insects, there are a number of limbs essentially modified to form food manipulators - the various mandibles, maxillae, etc. In dragonfly larvae, the last set of these appendages, the labrum is modified into an spoon-shaped arm-like, extensible appendage equipped with grabbers, hooks and poky bits that hooks aquatic prey and brings it into the mouth. It looks a little like the extra shootie-outtie mouth that the Aliens have, and is fascinating to watch in action.Besides primates and squirrels, what other animals bring their food to their mouths when eating?
Some parrots do too. A lot of the cockatoos do, and kakarikis (a type of parrot from NZ) do as well.
scorpions, crabs,some other crustaceans, preying mantis, rats and mice sometimes do, possums, other small rodents and marsupials.
Assuming you mean with their paws or using knives and forks, hamsters perform admirably and, unsurpisingly, our nearest cousins and every primate I can presently think of. If you want to include sticky tongue lashing of termites and ants, fling in anteaters, and echidna monotremes.





That's not intended as being in any way complete.
to be pedantic, all animals bring food to their mouths, otherwise how could they eat?! (I assume you mean with their hands!)





- otters, both river and sea


- some mice do (I think field-mice and dormice)


- crabs and lobsters use mandibles to bring food to their mouth


- squid and octopuses (octopi?) use their tentacles


- humans if we don麓t count as primates





can麓t think of any others off the top of my head





EDIT:


oh can麓t forget monkeys (ie not primates), the majority (if not all) simians use their hands to feed
Well, only apes have opposable thumbs. And of the apes only humans have a foreshortened thumb that allows it the percision grasping ability not found in other apes.
lemurs, bears, spiders,
Well, you need to watch raccoon and opossum also. Many rodents use their front paws to help get food to their mouth.

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