Carnivores, in the context of the biological order Carnivora, comprise a diverse clade of mostly mammalian predators characterized by specialized dentition, particularly enlarged canines and carnassial teeth adapted for shearing flesh. Members of Carnivora include families such as Felidae, Canidae, Ursidae, Mustelidae, and others, exhibiting a wide range of dietary strategies from obligate carnivory to omnivory. They share morphological and physiological traits such as a generally well-developed sense of smell, often acute vision and hearing, and cranial and limb adaptations for hunting, scavenging, or opportunistic feeding, making the order ecologically pivotal as apex and mesopredators in many terrestrial and some aquatic ecosystems.
A new scientific review has found that nutritionally sound vegan dog food, vegan cat food and vegetarian pet diets are generally well digested and broadly comparable to conventional meat-based diets.
Veterinary medicine
Jul 24, 2026
0
12
About 22,000 years ago, a giant brown bear lumbered across what is now Portugal. The creature weighed around 385 kg (about 850 pounds), making it one of the largest of its kind ever found, towering over the Iberian brown ...
A team of Vermont researchers has discovered that mysterious black skin lesions afflicting catfish in Lake Memphremagog and other New England and Canadian lakes are caused by a transmissible cancer—the first identified in ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 22, 2026
0
529
Cachexia—a syndrome characterized by progressive muscle wasting—affects both humans and dogs with chronic diseases such as cancer. A recent study in Molecular Oncology found that lower circulating levels of certain microRNAs—small ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 22, 2026
0
7
Dogs are humans' best friends in many places across the globe. But does a dog in New York City respond in the same way as a dog in Kyoto or Buenos Aires?
Plants & Animals
Jul 21, 2026
0
10
Texas Tech University's School of Veterinary Medicine fourth-year students Kayden Tanner and Marshall Mays have both been published in international journals after putting hundreds of hours into their research papers.
Biotechnology
Jul 20, 2026
0
9
Blood transfusions are crucial in human and veterinary medicine, yet human blood reserves are in constant need of donors, while blood bank systems in veterinary care are nearly nonexistent. This leaves canine transfusions ...
Biotechnology
Jul 19, 2026
0
86
Neil the Seal became a social media sensation almost overnight. Neil is a 5-year-old male southern elephant seal who weighs roughly 1 metric ton (1.1 tons). He was born on the Tasman Peninsula in October 2020 and has made ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 17, 2026
0
15
Wildlife protection frameworks in both the EU and the UK need stronger and more consistent implementation—and must recognize animals as "individuals capable of experiencing suffering," rather than mere ecological assets.
Plants & Animals
Jul 16, 2026
0
33
As homelessness increases around the world, more unhoused people are turning to parks and other urban green spaces to seek shelter. However, these places are also home to animals that live in and around urban areas.
Ecology
Jul 15, 2026
0
12
