Vermivore (from Latin vermi, meaning "worm" and vorare, "to devour") is a zoological term for animals that eat worms (including annelids, nematodes, and other worm-like animals). Animals with such a diet are known to be vermivorous. Some definitions are less exclusive with respect to the diet, but limit the definition to particular animals, e.g. "Feeding on worms or insect vermin. Used of a bird."
An entire genus of New World warblers has been given the name Vermivora.
One vermivore that may feed exclusively on worms is Paucidentomys vermidax, a rodent species of a type commonly known as shrew rats which was discovered in 2011 in Indonesia. The name, which can be translated as "worm-eating, few-toothed mouse", refers to the fact that they have only four teeth and may live exclusively on a diet of earthworms. This reduced dentition in vermivorous mammals is said to be due to relaxed selectional pressure on dental occlusion.
Examples
- Shrews
- Tuataras
- Hedgehogs
- Kiwi
- Long-beaked echidna
- Platypus
- Woodcocks
- Leeches of the genus Americobdella
- Moles
- American robins
- Wormsnakes
- Some sea snails e.g. Jaspidiconus and Conus species.
See also
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