Carnivora
An order of placental mammals specialized in eating flesh.
Carnivora is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. It is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 293 species found on every major landmass and in a variety of habitats, from cold polar regions to the Sahara Desert and open seas. Carnivorans exhibit a wide array of body plans, varying greatly in size and shape.
- order
- Carnivora
- number_of_species
- at least 293
- suborders
- Feliformia and Caniformia
- oldest_known_ancestors
- appeared in North America 6 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
- crown_group_appearance
- around 42 million years ago in the Middle Eocene
- etymology
- from Latin carō 'flesh' and vorāre 'to devour'
Lore & Background
The word Carnivora is derived from Latin carō (stem carn-) 'flesh' and vorāre 'to devour'. The oldest known carnivoran line mammals (Carnivoramorpha) appeared in North America 6 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. These early ancestors resembled small weasel or genet-like mammals, occupying a nocturnal shift on the forest floor or in trees, while other groups like mesonychians and creodonts occupied the megafaunal faunivorous niche. Following the extinction of mesonychians and oxyaenid creodonts at the end of the Eocene, carnivorans quickly moved into this niche, with nimravids becoming dominant large-bodied ambush predators during the Oligocene alongside hyaenodont creodonts. By the Miocene, most major lineages and families of carnivorans had diversified and become the most dominant group of large terrestrial predators in Eurasia and North America.
Reader's Guide
Carnivora is divided into two suborders: Feliformia, containing true felids and cat-like animals, and Caniformia, containing true canids and dog-like animals. Feliforms include Felidae, Viverridae, hyena, and mongoose families, with cats being the only feliforms occurring in both the Old and New Worlds. Caniforms include Caninae, Procyonidae, bears, mustelids, skunks, and pinnipeds, occurring worldwide with immense diversity in morphology, diet, and behavior. The order belongs to Laurasiatheria and is placed in the clade Ferae, with pangolins as the closest extant relative. The miacoids are the closest stem-carnivorans, and together Carnivora and Miacoidea form the stem-clade Carnivoramorpha. Carnivorans first appeared in the Paleocene of North America about 60 million years ago, with crown carnivorans appearing around 42 million years ago. The classification of extant families has been revised since 1945, with genetic and morphological research revealing that Fissipedia is paraphyletic with respect to Pinnipedia, and that several families like Viverridae, Procyonidae, and Mustelidae are polyphyletic.
Did You Know?
- Carnivora is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 293 species.
- The oldest known carnivoran line mammals appeared in North America 6 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
- Carnivorans are divided into two suborders: Feliformia (cat-like) and Caniformia (dog-like).
- The word Carnivora is derived from Latin carō 'flesh' and vorāre 'to devour'.
More in Carnivorans 1-21
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record