Big predatory mammals such as felines need between 5 and 7 different types of prey to meet their dietary needs

Friday, July 11, 2008 - 07:42 in Biology & Nature

Faced with earlier studies stating that the big predators such as tigers, lions, and lynxes fulfil their dietary needs by eating one or two types of prey, scientists from the University of Malaga assure us now that felines need from 5 to 7 different types of prey to fulfil their dietary needs, although they may be more specialised anatomically than the canines (wolves, dogs?) who can obtain 100% ingested biomass by eating three types of prey. This study brings new keys to the paleoecology of the big predators from the past, such as sabre-toothed tigers.

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