Vermivore (from Latin vermi, meaning "worm" and vorare, "to devour") is a zoological term for animals that eat worms (including annelids, nematodes, and other worm-like animals).[1] Animals with such a diet are known to be vermivorous.[2] Some definitions are less exclusive with respect to the diet, but limit the definition to particular animals, e.g. "Feeding on worms or insect vermin. Used of a bird."[3]
An entire genus of New World warblers has been given the name Vermivora.
One vermivore that may feed exclusively on worms is Paucidentomys vermidax, a rodent species of a type commonly known as shrew rats which was discovered in 2011 in Indonesia. The name, which can be translated as "worm-eating, few-toothed mouse", refers to the fact that they have only four teeth and may live exclusively on a diet of earthworms.[4] This reduced dentition in vermivorous mammals is said to be due to relaxed selectional pressure on dental occlusion.[5]
Examples of vermivores[edit]
- American robin
- Americobdella leeches
- Ants
- Anurids (frogs and toads)
- Bluebirds
- Burrowing owls
- Carabids (ground beetles)
- Centipedes
- Conus sea snails
- Corvids (crows, ravens, etc.)
- Galliformes (incl. chickens, junglefowl, peafowl, pheasants, turkeys, quail)
- Hedgehogs
- Icterids (New-World blackbirds)
- Jaspidiconus sea snails
- Killdeer
- Kiwi (bird)
- Lizards
- Long-beaked echidna[6]
- Moles[7]
- Nematodes
- Newts
- Nuthatches
- Platypus
- Plovers
- Rough green snake
- Salamanders
- Smooth green snake
- Shrews
- Starlings
- Tuatara
- Turtles (freshwater and terrestrial species)
- Woodcock
- Woodpeckers
- Wormsnake
- Wrens
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Animal Diversity Web". Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ Croker, Temple H. (1766). "Vermivorous". The Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 3.
- ^ "The Free Dictionary". Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ Esselstyn, J.A., Achmadi, A.S. Rowe, K.C. (2012). Evolutionary novelty in a rat with no molars. Biology Letters, published online 22 August 2012, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0574
- ^ Charles, Cyril; Solé, Floréal; Rodrigues, Helder Gomes; Viriot, Laurent (2013-06-01). "Under Pressure? Dental Adaptations to Termitophagy and Vermivory Among Mammals". Evolution. 67 (6): 1792–1804. doi:10.1111/evo.12051. ISSN 1558-5646. PMID 23730770.
- ^ "Spiny Anteaters: Licking Up Its Food". International Wildlife Encyclopedia. Vol. 18. Marshall Cavendish. 2002. p. 2488. (subscription required)
- ^ Arlton, A.V. (1936). "An Ecological Study of the Mole". Journal of Mammalogy. 17 (4): 349–371. doi:10.2307/1374401. JSTOR 1374401.
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