Mass feeding is a common strategy used by animals to obtain food by eating pieces of other organisms or swallowing them whole. Other strategies include filter feeding, deposit feeding, fluid feeding, and phagocytosis. Mass feeding is efficient and used by many herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, including humans. Non-mass feeders eat detritus instead of living or recently dead organisms. Sauropods, massive dinosaurs, were historical bulk feeders that consumed tons of plant matter per day.
Mass feeding is one of five feeding strategies used by animals to obtain food. Mass feeding is exhibited by animals that eat pieces of other organisms or swallow them whole. Other feeding strategies include filter feeding (used by various marine organisms from krill to blue whale), deposit feeding (earthworms and other animals that filter or scavenge from the soil), fluid feeding (hummingbirds feed on nectar or suck the entrails of insects) and phagocytosis (used by protozoa that engulf food particles).
Mass feeding is one of the most common feeding strategies among animals, especially among macroscopic animals, with which we are more familiar. Many herbivores, carnivores and omnivores use mass feeding. With the exception of some cetaceans (whales and relatives) which use filter feeding, almost all organisms larger than a few centimeters engage in mass feeding, including humans. It’s one of the most efficient forms of feeding, especially on land: It involves going directly to the food source and giving a big bite, then repeating until you’re full.
A non-mass feeder would be organisms such as millipedes, which are feeders of deposits and various detritus on land and sea, eating detritus instead of bits and pieces of living or recently dead organisms. Some bulk feeders, such as cows, are specialized for eating plants and have large barrel-like stomachs for breaking down hard-to-digest grass. Others, such as felines and canids, are specialized carnivores, evolved to hunt living organisms, kill them, and consume the fresh kill. Among the more flexible organisms, omnivores like humans use both strategies.
Among the largest historical bulk feeders, sauropods, massive dinosaurs that lived during the Mesozoic Era, consumed tons of plant matter per day to support their massive mass. A sauropod, Brachiosaurus, weighed between 30 and 60 tons. These animals had large stones in their bellies, called gastroliths, to crush plant matter and release its nutrients for further digestion.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
