Eli5, Why does carnivorous animals only get a little amount of energy from eating plants unlike omnivorous animals?

Question

Eli5, Why does carnivorous animals only get a little amount of energy from eating plants unlike omnivorous animals?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Digesting plant matter is hard and takes a looong digestive tract. Specialized carnivores don’t usually have that. So their digestive system simply doesn’t have the *time* to break down plant matter – most will/would pass undigested.