Studying mammals: Plant predators

From the mouse-deer to the elephant, plant eaters come in all shapes and sizes. But how do they manage to flourish on a salad diet? In this free course, Studying mammals: Plant predators, we will examine the special features that allow them to extract their nutrients from leaves, and see how some plants protect themselves from these predators. This is the fourth course in the Studying mammals series.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 The herbivores
• 1 The herbivores
• 2 The herbivore lifestyle - living on leaves
• 2 The herbivore lifestyle - living on leaves
• 3 Herbivore teeth
• 3 Herbivore teeth
• 4 Digesting plant material
• 4 Digesting plant material
• 4.1 A brief digression about digestion
• 4.2 Digesting cellulose
• 5 Digestive processes
• 5 Digestive processes
• 5.1 Ruminants
• 5.2 Pseudo-ruminants
• 5.3 Hindgut fermenters
• 6 Grazers and browsers
• 6 Grazers and browsers
• 7 Plant defences
• 7 Plant defences
• 8 Shortage of nutrients
• 8 Shortage of nutrients
• 8.1 Introduction
• 8.2 Protein shortage
• 8.3 Shortage of minerals
• 9 Wildebeest migration
• 9 Wildebeest migration
• 10 Living in herds
• 10 Living in herds
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements