carnivoran

From Carnivora +‎ -an.

• enPR: kärnĭvərən
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɑːˈnɪvərən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɑːrˈnɪvərən/
• Hyphenation: Car‧niv‧or‧an

carnivoran (not comparable)

1. (zoology) Of or pertaining to the order Carnivora.
   • 1996, John L. Gittleman, Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution Vol.2, page 486:

     ...the earliest carnivoran diversity appears in the early Miocene rift sediments of East Africa...

   • 2016 November 26, Elsa Panciroli, “Rifling through the 'wastebaskets' of palaeontology reveals surprises”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     These creatures are so anatomically similar it’s proven hard to figure out their relationships, both with one another and with later carnivoran groups.

carnivoran (plural carnivorans)

1. (zoology) Any member of the order Carnivora.

• Carnivoran should be distinguished from carnivore, an animal that eats meat. Not all carnivores (or even all carnivorous mammals) are carnivorans, and not all carnivorans (e.g. the giant panda) are carnivores.

• Malagasy carnivoran