We explain what a heterotrophic being is, how they can be classified by their preferences and some examples of these living beings.
What is a heterotrophic being?
Known living beings can be classified into two large types, depending on the model of nutrition processes that characterize them: heterotrophs and autotrophs, that is, those that present heterotrophic nutrition and autotrophic nutrition.
Living beings that are known as heterotrophs are not capable of self-sustaining from inorganic matter in the environment but rather they need to consume the organic matter of other living beings to be able to nourish themselves and continue living.
In this they are distinguished from autotrophic beings, capable of taking advantage of energy and inorganic matter to make their food (such as plants, which take advantage of water and sunlight to carry out photosynthesis).
In this way, autotrophs are considered producers, while heterotrophs are considered consumers. Without the former, the latter could not exist in the long run, since eventually there would be no more living beings to consume.
Heterotrophic beings can be classified according to their food preferences into:
- Herbivores Those that feed mainly on plants and vegetables, fruits or floral nectar, that is, they obtain their organic matter from the plant kingdom.
- Carnivores Also known as predators, they feed on the bodies of other heterotrophs, whether herbivores, smaller carnivores or any type. They are the hunters of each habitat, who keep the population growth of their prey at bay.
- Detrithophages Nature's recycling department is made up of detritophages, those heterotrophic beings that take care of the waste from the food of large predators, or the organic matter that falls from trees, in short, everything that can be considered matter. organic waste. Scavenger birds, fungi and many insects fulfill this role on a daily basis.
- Omnivores Those that feed on everything, that is, they can combine foods from different origins in their diet: carnivorous, herbivorous and even in some cases detritophagous. Man is an obvious case of this.
See also: Biotic factors
Examples of heterotrophic beings
Heterotrophs include all animals, fungi and most single-celled organisms. We can offer some examples of this:
- The big feline predators Like the tiger, lion, panther, puma or cheetah, they have an exclusively carnivorous diet, so they must hunt other animals, usually large herbivores.
- Fish and marine mammals From the shark to the sardine, from the tuna to the dolphin, life in the sea is a constant eating or being eaten. Large fish devour small ones and feed on their organic matter, and these in turn feed on small crustaceans or plankton.
- The mushrooms in their entirety Although they may not seem like it in some cases, fungi are heterotrophic beings halfway between animal and plant. They have body structures similar to the plant kingdom (like cells with a cell wall) but they feed on decomposing organic matter: wood, paint, humus-rich soils, and even the bodies of other living beings.
- The large African herbivores Large animals with herbivorous diets, such as giraffes, rhinos, elephants, gazelles and others, are usually prey to large predators.
- The protozoans These unicellular and microscopic organisms live in humid environments and aquatic environments, or within the organism of the beings that in some cases they parasitize. They feed by phagocytosing other living cells to incorporate them into their body, or by absorbing nutrients through their cell membrane. In some cases they are considered semi-heterotrophic or partially autotrophic, depending on the species.
- Human beings A clear example of a heterotrophic diet is ours, which ideally combines plant, animal and food from various living beings. Although we must also drink water, like the rest of the animals, we cannot subsist on it alone.
- Some bacteria The kingdom of bacteria is enormous and diverse, which includes some autotrophic species (photosynthetic or chemosynthetic) and other heterotrophic species, such as those that invade our body in cases of infections. These bacteria then feed on our own cells and tissues.
- The arachnids Spiders, scorpions and centipedes are the creatures that make up this category, which are some of the most fearsome predators in the arthropod world. Great insect hunters, they have each developed their strategies to capture their prey, whose internal fluids they feed on.
