Folivores

picture info	Folivores In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less energy than other types of foods, and often toxic compounds.Jones, S., Martin, R., & Pilbeam, D. (1994) ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press For this reason, folivorous animals tend to have long digestive tracts and slow metabolisms. Many enlist the help of symbiotic bacteria to release the nutrients in their diet. Additionally, as has been observed in folivorous primates, they exhibit a strong preference for immature leaves which tend to be easier to masticate, are higher in energy and protein, and lower in fibre and poisons than more mature fibrous leaves. Folivory and flight It has been observed that folivory is extremely rare among flying vertebrates. Morton (1978) attributed this to the fact that leaves are heavy, slow to digest, and contain little energy relative to other foo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Opisthocomus Hoazin The hoatzin ( ) or hoactzin ( ) (''Opisthocomus hoazin'') is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South America. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Opisthocomus'' which is the only extant genus in the Opisthocomidae family under the order of Opisthocomiformes. Despite being the subject of intense debate by specialists, the taxonomic position of this family is still far from clear. The hoatzin is notable for its chicks having primitive claws on two of their wing digits; the species also is unique among birds, in possessing a digestive system that non-trivially supports the fermentation and the effective breaking-down of plant matter, a trait more commonly known from herbivorous ungulate-ruminant mammals and some primates. This bird is also the national bird of Guyana, where the local name for this bird is Canje pheasant. Description The hoatzin is pheasant-sized, with a total length of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Sloth Sloths are a Neotropical realm, Neotropical group of xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant Arboreal locomotion, arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South America and Central America. Sloths are considered to be most closely related to anteaters, together making up the xenarthran order Pilosa. There are six extant sloth species in two genera – ''Bradypus'' (three-toed sloths) and ''Choloepus'' (two-toed sloths). Despite this traditional naming, all sloths have three toes on each rear limb – although two-toed sloths have only two digits on each forelimb. The two groups of sloths are from different, distantly related families, and are thought to have evolved their morphology via parallel evolution from terrestrial ancestors. Besides the extant species, many species of ground sl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Hoatzin The hoatzin ( ) or hoactzin ( ) (''Opisthocomus hoazin'') is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South America. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Opisthocomus'' which is the only extant genus in the Opisthocomidae family under the order of Opisthocomiformes. Despite being the subject of intense debate by specialists, the taxonomic position of this family is still far from clear. The hoatzin is notable for its chicks having primitive claws on two of their wing digits; the species also is unique among birds, in possessing a digestive system that non-trivially supports the fermentation and the effective breaking-down of plant matter, a trait more commonly known from herbivorous ungulate-ruminant mammals and some primates. This bird is also the national bird of Guyana, where the local name for this bird is Canje pheasant. Description The hoatzin is pheasant-sized, with a total length of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]