A
hypercarnivore is an
animal which has a diet that is more than 70% meat, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods such as
fungi,
fruits or other plant material. Some examples include
felids,
dolphins,
eagles,
snakes,
marlin, and most
sharks. Every species in the
Felidae family, including the domesticated
cat, is a hypercarnivore in its natural state. Some well-known hypercarnivorous invertebrates are
octopodes and
starfish. Additionally, this term is also used in
paleobiology to describe
taxa of animals which have an increased slicing component of their
dentition relative to the grinding component. Hypercarnivores need not be
apex predators. For example,
salmon are exclusively carnivorous, yet they are prey at all stages of life for a variety of organisms.