Carnivora facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
(Redirected from Carnivoran)
Temporal range: Palaeocene to Recent
A Gray Wolf
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Eutheria
Superorder: Laurasiatheria
Order: Carnivora
Bowdich, 1821
  • 17, See "Taxonomy"

The order Carnivora is a group of mammals. The group is divided into the "cat-like" Feliformia and the "dog-like" Caniformia.

Animals of the order Carnivora are carnivores, a term which applies to all flesh-eaters. If one needs to refer to members of the order, then carnivorans is used. Many species of Carnivora are actually omnivores, and a few of them, like the Giant Panda, eat mostly plants.

The order includes aquatic relatives in the superfamily Pinnipedia, the walruses and seals.



The Carnivores are linked with the Miacids and Viverravids in an unranked clade, the Carnivoramorpha:

The carnivores known as †Creodonts have some relation to these groups, but are placed outside the Carnivoramorpha. The †Mesonychids are another extinct group of early carnivores, which are also not in the Carnivoramorpha.

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