It is known that zoologists distinguish in the Mammals class the detachment Carnivores, which include living organisms that eat meat. Their body is adapted to capture live prey, kill it and digest it. However, it is also true that not only mammals can be characterized as predatory animals. Reptiles, such as crocodiles and snakes, also eat meat. There are predatory fish, these are well-known sharks, pikes, pike perches, catfish. There are also birds that catch the victim, kill it and eat it.
All of the above organisms are predators, and there are a great many of them on earth. There are only three types of food, and in accordance with them, animals are divided into carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. It is not difficult to guess that the first eat meat, the second - plant foods, and the third are perfectly adapted and can use both for food.
If we consider mammals, then the order Predatory animals includes land and water creatures. The latter include such inhabitants of the seas as a seal, a seal, a fur seal. Terrestrial predatory animals are divided into suborders Cat-like, Dog-like. The latter include the families of Kunya, Bear, Canine and others. Joining these groupsoccurs by the presence of certain features of anatomy and physiology.
In general, predatory animals are characterized by certain body structure features that help them hunt, catch and kill prey. These include: limbs with 4 or 5 fingers with pronounced claws, a small rounded skull, well-developed organs of vision, smell and hearing, vibrissae, and a differentiated dental system. The teeth of predators include incisors for tearing off pieces of food, fangs for holding and killing prey, molars and premolars for crushing food. Predatory animals have a flexible body, adapted for jumping, running, throwing. Their speed of movement and reaction is usually high.
The digestive system of such creatures is designed to digest meat food: the high acidity of gastric juice, and the stomach itself is capacious and extensible. But their intestines are relatively small, the caecum is small or completely absent.
Why do we need such animals
From the point of view of biology, they perform a very important function of regulating the number of species of living beings that serve as food. Predators also destroy old, sick, unproductive organisms, which is the most important factor in natural selection.
Africa is a land of predators
The African continent, where the harsh pristine nature is preserved, is one of the “richest” predators due to difficult survival conditions. There are many such species of cats andcanids, like panthers (leopards), hyenas, lions, cheetahs, jackals, hyena-like dogs, phoenixes. But the list of "predatory animals of Africa" is not limited to them. Huge deadly reptiles - crocodiles - and giant poisonous snakes also live there. Among the latter are cobras, vipers and mambas. Non-poisonous reptiles - pythons - also eat meat, although they kill the victim in a different way.
There are more than 250 species of predatory mammals in the world. Oddly enough, and they need protection. Due to human activities, many of them are under the threat of extinction and are listed in the Red Book.
