Herbivores feeding patterns

Is there coevolution between mammals and their food plants Herbivorous mammals usually consume many different plant species, and a plant typically is food to more than one herbivore species. Any patterns of coevolution would be diluted, resulting in diffuse rather than narrow coevolution. Even the diets of the koala (eucalyptus) and giant panda (bamboo) are more varied than commonly assumed. The koala feeds on several Eucalyptus species and did not thrive in zoos when fed only one species. The giant panda even includes animals in its diet. Nevertheless, Lindroth (1988) saw coevolution as an attractive hypothesis for some mammals. 

Sequestration of toxic alkaloids also has another benefit for the insects that feed on these forbidden fruits. In a very real sense these herbivores are conspicuously marked with colorful patterns that designate them as toxic animals. They are described as aposematic or warningly colored organisms, in much the... 

Diet provides the major pathway for lead exposure, and amounts in bone are indicative of estimated lead exposure and metabolism. Amounts of whole body lead and feeding habits of roadside rodents were correlated body burdens were highest in insectivores such as shrews intermediate in herbivores, and lowest in granivores. Food chain biomagnification of lead, although uncommon in terrestrial communities, may be important for carnivorous marine mammals, such as the California sea lion accumulations were highest in hard tissues, such as bone and teeth, and lowest in soft tissues, such as fat and muscle. A similar pattern was observed in the harbor seal. 

Results of this study have verified and extended the suggestion made in previous radioisotope food chain studies. . . that the shape of the uptake curves [Figure 80b] can be indicative of the trophic position of a population of consumers in the field. Thus, populations known to be strictly herbivorous reach a peak of radioactivity very soon after the primary producers have been labelled, while known predators such as spiders show delayed uptake at lower levels. Intermediate patterns could then be interpreted as indicating feeding from more than one trophic level. 

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