eli5: Why are herbivorous animals usually fatter/bigger than carnivorous animals?
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It‘s actually not an overall trend. Each species has some strategy that allows it to survive, and going big as a herbivore is just one. You‘re probably thinking of vertibrates or mammals. For those following reasons may apply:
– Their digestive system. Plants are made up of carbohydrates, some like sugars are easy to digest, others are hard to digest (we call those fibers). Herbivores like cows are specialized in eating fubers and their digestive system needs to be large to do this. Meat and fat on the other hand are easy to digest, only need a small digestive system
– Protection. Think of rhinos. They are herbivores and their size and extremely thick skin protect them from most predators.
– Food sources. A large herbivor can access food that smaller one‘s cant.
But vertibrates are just a tiny part of the animal kingdom. Flies, maggots, bees, bugs, worms, slugs, etc. are often herbivores. And they can be really small compred to their predators. Take earthworms for example: one of their major predators are birds, which are far larger.
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