A red fox (Vulpes vulpes) eating a rodent—an example of a mesocarnivore
A mesocarnivore is an animal whose diet consists of 50–70% meat with the balance consisting of non-vertebrate foods which may include insects, fungi, fruits, other plant material and any food that is available to them.[1] Mesocarnivores are from a large family group of mammalian carnivores and vary from small to medium sized, which are less than fifteen kilograms.[2] Mesocarnivores are seen today among the Canidae (coyotes, foxes), Viverridae (civets), Mustelidae (martens, tayra), Procyonidae (ringtail, raccoon), Mephitidae (skunks), and Herpestidae (some mongooses). The red fox is also the most common of the mesocarnivores in Europe and has a high population density in the areas they reside.[3]
In North America, some mesocarnivores are in danger of being over hunted for their pelts.[4] This has led to efforts to help protect and conserve the mesocarnivores in the area which have been largely successful thus far.[5] These animals play an essential role in the function and system of the ecosystem, since the elimination of apex predators.
The American Institute of Biological Sciences states that due to the fact that mesocarnivores are smaller than large carnivore, they are more abundant, and therefore have a diversity of mesocarnivore species.[2] Due to their smaller size, mesocarnivores play a part in the ecosystem of dispersing seeds in open spaces, as well as driving community structure.[2] Mesocarnivores are also very diverse in comparison to larger carnivores in their behaviour and ecology, from being reclusive to highly social. Their diversity and small size allows them to thrive in a range of habitats than larger carnivores are able to.[2] The population of these smaller carnivores also increases when the presence of a larger carnivore decline. This is known as the 'mesocarnivore release.' According to the National Park Service, "Mesocarnivore release is defined as the expansion in range and/or abundance of a smaller predator following the reduction or removal of a larger predator."[6] One impact of this is that these mesocarnivores can act as scavengers cleaning up dead animal carcasses discarded by humans in urban areas.[7] Mesocarnivores' habitat have shifted and changed, due to urbanisation, leading to habitat fragmentation and disturbance, resulting in habitat loss for animals.
^Van Valkenburgh, Blaire (2007). "Déjà vu: the evolution of feeding morphologies in the Carnivora". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 47 (1): 147–163. doi:10.1093/icb/icm016. PMID 21672827.
^ abcdGary W. Roemer, Matthew E. Gompper, Blaire Van Valkenburgh, "The Ecological Role of the Mammalian Mesocarnivore", BioScience, Volume 59, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 165–173, https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2009.59.2.9
^Sándor, Attila D.; et al. (2017). "Mesocarnivores and Macroparasites: Altitude and Land Use Predict the Ticks Occurring on Red Foxes (Vulpes Vulpes)". Parasites & Vectors. 10 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2113-9. PMC 5382496. PMID 28381228.
^Ray, Justina C. Mesocarnivores of Northeastern North America: Status and Conservation Issues. WCS Working Papers No. 15, June 2000. Available for download from http://www.wcs.org/science/
^"Scavenging and Landscape Use of Mesocarnivores in Denali (U.S. National Park Service)". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2019, www.nps.gov/articles/denali-crp-mesocarnivore.htm.
^Ćirović, Duško & Penezić, Aleksandra & Krofel, Miha. (2016). Jackals as cleaners: Ecosystem services provided by a mesocarnivore in human-dominated landscapes. Biological Conservation. 199. 51-55. 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.027.
A mesocarnivore is an animal whose diet consists of 50–70% meat with the balance consisting of non-vertebrate foods which may include insects, fungi,...
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division of carnivory into three groups, including hypercarnivore and mesocarnivore, appears to have occurred about 40 million years ago (mya). The term...
Evolution (biology) Food chain Food energy Ingestion List of diets Mesocarnivore Productivity (ecology) List of feeding behaviours Beasley, DeAnna; Koltz...
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dry disturbed environments: An example with a generalist neotropical mesocarnivore". Journal of Arid Environments. 167: 18–25. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2019...
Management in the New World: Prevention, Control and Elimination in Mesocarnivores". In Rupprecht CE (ed.). History of Rabies in the Americas: From the...
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