Definition of frugivore in English:
frugivore
noun ˈfruːdʒɪvɔːˈfrudʒəˌvɔr
Zoology An animal that feeds on fruit.
Example sentencesExamples
- During the late Cretaceous and early Paleocene periods plant-eating mammals were frugivores, presumably because fruit can be more easily processed than foliage.
- Second, I review the scanty literature on whether vertebrate frugivores prefer fruits with presumably higher levels of ethanol over conspecific fruits with presumably lower levels of ethanol.
- Ethanol vapor emanating from palatable fruit may act as an odor cue, guiding bats and other frugivores to the fruit, and aiding them to assess its quality.
- Not only do microbial frugivores consume fruits and fail to disperse seeds, but they often render fruits unattractive to vertebrate frugivores that do disperse seeds.
- However, because of the great variety of microorganisms present in fruit, the associated effects on the interactions between vertebrate frugivores and fruiting plants may also be highly variable.
Origin
Mid 20th century: from Latin frux, frug- 'fruit' + -vore (see -vorous).
Definition of frugivore in US English:
frugivore
nounˈfro͞ojəˌvôrˈfrudʒəˌvɔr
Zoology An animal that feeds on fruit.
Example sentencesExamples
- During the late Cretaceous and early Paleocene periods plant-eating mammals were frugivores, presumably because fruit can be more easily processed than foliage.
- Not only do microbial frugivores consume fruits and fail to disperse seeds, but they often render fruits unattractive to vertebrate frugivores that do disperse seeds.
- Ethanol vapor emanating from palatable fruit may act as an odor cue, guiding bats and other frugivores to the fruit, and aiding them to assess its quality.
- However, because of the great variety of microorganisms present in fruit, the associated effects on the interactions between vertebrate frugivores and fruiting plants may also be highly variable.
- Second, I review the scanty literature on whether vertebrate frugivores prefer fruits with presumably higher levels of ethanol over conspecific fruits with presumably lower levels of ethanol.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Latin frux, frug- ‘fruit’ + -vore (see -vorous).