Comparative Analysis

First Similarity Across Our Species

Something that each of our animals have in common is that none of them are omnivores! This means none of our animals eat both meat and plants- they eat meat OR plants. For example, Loggerhead Sea Turtles, American Green Tree Frog, and Hyena's are all carnivores, or they only eat meat. Loggerheads consume hard-shelled prey: crabs, conchs, whelks, and horseshoe crabs. The American Green Tree Frog consumes insects, and relies on protein sources such as beetles, spiders, and flies. Hyena's consume ground birds, rabbits, springhare, bat-eared foxes, porcupines, jackals, and fish. When they are in small groups, they can hunt gazelles, impalas, warthogs, and waterbucks. When in larger groups, spotted hyenas can hunt and kill rhinos, adult wildebeest, zebras, and cape buffalo. As you can see in the video and images below, it is clear that these three animals are not omnivores.

Second Similarity Across Our Species

Another similarity that our animals across the globe share that might seem surface level, but is a keystone part of nutritional ecology — they all have a mouth!

First Difference Across Our Species

As discussed above, despite all of these animals live in different biomes, the food they consume for energy and prey differing, the animals still all have a mouth to aid with the first step of digestion. This enables them to go though the rest of the digestive processes and serves as a key step in nutritional ecology. Another body part all of these animals share is a stomach (well, sort of). What is different about them is their size and shape. Of all of our animals, cattle are the most unique. They are ruminants, so what would be their stomach is divided into four compartments. The abomasum is considered to be the "true" stomach of ruminants, as it contains hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes that are used to break down food. The abomasum can hold up to 7 gallons of volume, making it a relatively sizeable compartment. It is shaped like a long tube, almost like a stretched out intestine, with a compartment similar to a stomach at the beginning. The American quarter horse has a smaller stomach, as it can only hold two to five gallons. It is shaped almost like a human like a large kidney bean and is connected directly to the horse's esophagus. The spotted hyena's stomach is much smaller than both of the previous animals, but has a very acidic one. Its pH is usually less than two! In addition, it is L-shaped, with a lot of the stomach's volume being found at the top. The European has a very small, kidney bean-shaped stomach. It can hold up to 80 g of masticated food. The American Green Tree Frog's stomach is very unique in that it is shaped almost like an intestine, measuring about 1.5 inches long in a full-grown frog. The Loggerhead sea turtle has a more conventional stomach, with it being kidney bean-shaped and about 17 inches long.

Second Difference Across Our Species

A difference that all of our animals have is that they all have different adaptations for mastication, or chewing their food. Cattle are ruminants, so they have only have flat bottom teeth to chew, with a hard dental plate on the top of their oral cavity. Loggerhead Sea Turtles do not have teeth at all, but instead use their incredibly powerful jaw muscles to consume food. The exact opposite of cattle, American Green Tree Frogs only have upper teeth, and with the aid of their tongue, capture and break down their food using their small teeth before passing along through the rest of the digestive tract. Spotted Hyenas are intense predators and carnivores, and have sharp canine teeth to help tear into their prey. The American Quarter Horse has large incisors and molars to aid in uprooting grass and eating other foodstuffs. Lastly, the European Rabbit have long incisors that never stop growing that help them chew food, and often domesticated European Rabbits will have overgrown teeth if not maintained regularly.