• Question: can herbivores turn to carnivores

    Asked by ExplosionsGolor_00 to Angela, Claire, Ian, Robert, Sarah on 10 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Ian Cade

      Ian Cade answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Simple answer yes, after all a significant factor in the BSE problem in the 1980s was probably that intensively farmed cows were given protein supplements, derived from sheep. Essentially the cows were carnivores or at least omnivores.

      If you are asking about the evolution of a species (not individual animals) then yes, provided there is an evolutionary driving force for such a change then there is no reason for it not to happen. You could imaging a plausible scenario:

      Nutritious plants become scarce -> herbivore mortality increases -> some herbivores survive by scavenging carcasses -> some of these eventually stop waiting for the sick herbivore to die and follow/chase it -> -> not long before what you used to call a cow is chasing other cows and clamping down on a jugular or two.

    • Photo: Angela Stokes

      Angela Stokes answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Hi ExplosionsGolor_00
      Yes there is no doubt that herbivores can evolve over a period of time into carnivores and vice versa, but as Ian has described below there needs to be a driving force for it to happen

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