We explain what a heterotrophic being is, how they can be classified by their preferences and some examples of these living beings.
What is a heterotrophic being?
The living creatures known can be classified into two broad types, depending on the model of nutrition that characterize them: heterotrophs and autotrophs, that is, those with heterotrophic nutrition and autotrophic nutrition.
It is known as heterotrophs to living beings that are not capable of self-sustaining from the inorganic material of environment, but they need to consume the organic material of other living beings to be able to nourish themselves and continue living.
In this they are distinguished from autotrophic beings, capable of taking advantage of the Energy and inorganic matter to make its food (like the plants, who take advantage of the Water and the sunlight to make photosynthesis).
In this way, the beings autotrophs are considered producers, while heterotrophs are considered consumers. Without the former, the latter could not exist in the long run, because eventually the living things to consume would run out.
Heterotrophic beings can be classified according to their food preferences in:
- Herbivores. Those that feed mainly on plants and vegetables, fruits or floral nectar, that is, they obtain their organic matter from the plant kingdom.
- Carnivores. Also known as predatorsThey feed on the body of other heterotrophs, be they herbivores, smaller carnivores or of any kind. They are the hunters of each habitat, which keep the population growth of their prey at bay.
- Detritophages. The recycling department of the nature It is made up of detritophages, those heterotrophic beings that are responsible for the residues of the feeding of the great predators, or of the organic matter that falls from the trees, in short, of everything that can be considered waste organic matter. Carrion birds, mushrooms and many insects fulfill this role on a daily basis.
- Omnivores. Those who eat everything, that is, they can combine foods from different sources in their diet: carnivores, herbivores and even in some cases detritophagus. Man is an obvious case of this.
Examples of heterotrophic beings
Heterotrophic beings include all animals, fungi and most of the single-celled organisms. We can offer some examples of this:
- The big feline predators. Like the tiger, the Lion, the panther, the puma or the cheetah, have an exclusively carnivorous diet, so they must hunt other animals, usually herbivores of good size.
- Fish and mammals marine. From the shark to the sardine, from tuna to dolphin, life in the sea is a constant eating or being eaten. Large fish devour small fish and feed on their organic matter, and these in turn feed on small ones crustaceans or plankton.
- Mushrooms In its whole. Although they may not appear so in some cases, fungi are heterotrophic beings halfway between animal and plant. They have body structures similar to vegetal kingdom (like cells with cell walls) but they feed on decaying organic matter: wood, painting, soils rich in humus, and even the body of other living things.
- The great African herbivores. Large animals and feeding herbivorous, such as giraffes, rhinos, elephants, gazelles and others, which are often preyed upon by large predators.
- Protozoa. These unicellular and microscopic organisms inhabit humid environments and aquatic environments, or within the organism of beings that in some cases they parasitize. They feed by engulfing other living cells to incorporate them into their body, or by absorbing nutrients through their cellular membrane. In some cases they are considered semi-heterotrophic or partially autotrophic, depending on the species.
- Humans. A clear example of a heterotrophic diet is ours, which ideally combines plant and animal foods and foods from various living beings. Although we must also take WaterLike the rest of the animals, we cannot subsist on it alone.
- Some bacteria. The kingdom of bacteria is huge and diverse, which includes some autotrophic species (photosynthetic or chemosynthetic) and other heterotrophic species, such as those that invade our body in case of infections. These bacteria then feed on our own cells and tissues.
- Arachnids. Spiders, scorpions and centipedes are the creatures that make up this category, which are some of the most fearsome predators in the world of arthropods. Great hunters of insects, they have each developed their strategies to capture their prey, on whose internal fluids they feed.