eli5: Why are herbivorous animals usually fatter/bigger than carnivorous animals?
In: 119
Work.
If a Lion wants to eat it has to sprint and wrestle.
If a gazelle wants to eat, it has to stand around and munch grass.
Now, that work builds muscle, it shapes the animal’s physiology just like comparing a Gym bro to an accountant.
Also then consider what that entails, if the Lion wants to be fast enough to catch a gazelle, and strong enough to take it down, it can’t carry additional fat that would slow it down. If he gets fat, he starts to starve, he starts to slim down.
If a gazelle wants to survive, it needs to be faster than a Lion OR develop strategies like being in a herd, at which point it isn’t outrunning the fastest Lion, but the slowest gazelle. If the entire herd spends all day grazing, the majority can gain excess weight while still not being the slowest in the group.
For a creature like an elephant, it’s weight and bulk is an advantage boosting survivability, so chunky elephants and lean tigers makes sense.
Then look at a bear, as an omnivore it bulks up and gets fat but it’s hunting salmon, eating berries, scavenging stuff, the bear isn’t having to chase down a cow everytime it needs to eat. The bear can be fat and still score meals, so it doesn’t need to be lean and sleak.
Latest Answers