eli5: Why are herbivorous animals usually fatter/bigger than carnivorous animals?

Question

eli5: Why are herbivorous animals usually fatter/bigger than carnivorous animals?

In: 119

Answer 1

Only certain ones are big, and many herbivores are tiny and agile, at least compared to their predators. But the very large ones use size to their advantage. It’s just hard to bring down a moose or a wildebeest or a buffalo or a hippo. So from an evolutionary standpoint, the bigger herbivore just kept getting bigger and bigger because size provided a survival advantage. There are still lots of smaller and faster herbivores who use their speed as a survival advantage, like deer and gazelle and animals like that.