Omnivore Definition and Examples

Omnivore Definition and Examples An omnivore is an organism that eats both animals and plants. An animal with such a diet is said to be omnivorous. An omnivore that youre probably pretty familiar with are humans- most humans (other than those who dont get any nutrition from animal products because of medical or ethical reasons) are omnivores. The Term Omnivore The word omnivore comes from the Latin words omni- meaning all- and vorare- meaning devour, or swallow. Therefore, omnivore means devours all in Latin. This is pretty accurate, as omnivores can get their food from a variety of sources. Food sources can include algae, plants, fungi, and animals.  Animals may be omnivorous their entire lives or just at specific stages of life. Advantages and Disadvantages of Being an Omnivore Omnivores have the advantage of being able to find food in a variety of places. Therefore, if one prey source diminishes, they can fairly easily switch to another one.  Some omnivores are also scavengers, meaning they feed on dead animals or plants, which further increases their food options. They do have to find their food- omnivores either wait for their food to pass by them or need to actively seek it out.  Since they have such a general diet, their means of getting food is not as specialized as carnivores or herbivores. For example, carnivores have sharp teeth for ripping and gripping prey and herbivores have flatter teeth adapted for grinding.  Omnivores may have a mix of both kinds of teeth- think of our molars and incisors as an example. A disadvantage for other marine life is that marine omnivores may be more likely to invade non-native habitats. This has cascading effects on native species, which may be preyed-upon or displaced by the invading omnivore. An example of this is the Asian shore crab which is native to countries in the Northwest Pacific Ocean but was transported to Europe and the U.S. where it is out-competing native species for food and habitat. Examples of Marine Omnivores Below are some examples of marine omnivores: Many crab species (including blue, ghost and Asian shore crabs)Horseshoe crabsLobsters (e.g. American lobster, spiny lobster)Some sea turtles- like Olive ridley and flatback turtles- are omnivores. Green turtles are herbivores as adults, but omnivores as hatchlings. Loggerhead turtles are carnivores as adults but omnivores as hatchlingsCommon perwinkle: These small snails feed mostly on algae but may also eat small animals (like barnacle larvae)Some types of zooplanktonSharks are generally carnivores, although the whale shark and basking shark may be considered omnivores, as they are filter feeders that eat plankton. As they mow through the ocean with their enormous mouths open, the plankton they consume may include both plants and animals. Using that line of reasoning, mussels and barnacles may be considered omnivores, since they filter small organisms (which may contain both phytoplankton and zooplankton) from the water Omnivores and Trophic Levels In the marine (and terrestrial) world, there are producers and consumers. Producers (or autotrophs) are organisms that make their own food. These organisms include plants, algae, and some types of bacteria. Producers are at the base of a food chain.  Consumers (heterotrophs) are organisms that need to consume other organisms to survive. All animals, including omnivores, are consumers.   In a food chain, there are trophic levels, which are the feeding levels of animals and plants. The first trophic level includes the producers, because they produce the food that fuels the rest of the food chain. The second trophic level includes the herbivores, which eat producers.  The third trophic level includes omnivores and carnivores. References and Further Information: Chiras, D.D. 1993. Biology: The Web of Life. West Publishing Company.Harper, D. Omnivorous. Online Etymology Dictionary. Accessed September 29, 2015.National Geographic. Autotroph.  Accessed September 29, 2015.The Oceanic Society. What Do Sea Turtles Eat? SEETurtles.org. Accessed September 29, 2015.

Katharine Burr Blodgett Invents Non-Reflective Glass

Katharine Burr Blodgett Invents Non-Reflective Glass Katherine Burr Blodgett (1898-1979) was a woman of many firsts. She was the first female scientist hired by General Electric’s Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York (1917) as well as the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in Physics from Cambridge University (1926). She was the first woman to receive the Photographic Society of America Award, and the American Chemical Society honored her with the Francis P. Garvin Medal. Her most notable discovery was in how to produce non-reflective glass. Early Life of Katharine Burr Blodgett Blodgetts father was a patent lawyer and head of the patent department at General Electric. He was killed by a burglar a few months before she was born but left enough savings that the family was financially secure. After living in Paris, the family returned to New York where Blodgett attended private schools and Bryn Mawr College, excelling at mathematics and physics. She got her masters degree from the University of Chicago in 1918 with a thesis on the chemical structure of gas masks, determining that carbon would absorb most poisonous gasses. She then went to work for the General Electric Research Lab with  Nobel Prize winner  Dr. Irving Langmuir. She completed her Ph.D. at Cambridge University in 1926. Research at General  Electric Blodgett’s research on monomolecular coatings with  Langmuir led her to a revolutionary discovery. She discovered a way to apply the coatings layer by layer to glass and metal. These thin films naturally reduce glare on reflective surfaces. When layered to a certain thickness, they completely cancel out the reflection from the surface underneath. This resulted in the world’s first 100 percent transparent or invisible glass Katherine Blodgett’s patented film and process (1938) has been used for many purposes including limiting distortion in eyeglasses, microscopes, telescopes, camera, and projector lenses.   Katherine Blodgett received U.S patent #2,220,660 on March 16, 1938, for the Film Structure and Method of Preparation or invisible, nonreflective glass. Katherine Blodgett also invented a special color gauge for measuring the thickness of these films of glass, since 35,000 layers of the film only added up to the thickness of a sheet of paper. Blodgett also made a breakthrough in developing smoke screens during World War II. Her process allowed less oil to be used as it was vaporized into molecular particles. In addition, she developed methods for deicing airplane wings. She published dozens of scientific papers over the course of her long career. Blodgett retired from General Electric in 1963.  She did not marry and lived with Gertrude Brown for many years. She acted in the Schenectady Civic Players and lived on Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains.  She died at home in 1979. Her awards include the Progress Medal from the Photographic Society of America, Garvan Medal of the American Chemical Society, American Physical Society Fellow, and Boston First Assembly of American Women of Achievement honored scientist. In 2007 she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Patents Granted to Katharine Burr Blodgett U.S. Patent 2,220,860: 1940: Film Structure and Method of PreparationU.S. Patent 2,220,861: 1940: Reduction of Surface ReflectionU.S. Patent 2,220,862: 1940: Low-Reflectance GlassU.S. Patent 2,493,745: 1950: Electrical Indicator of Mechanical ExpansionU.S. Patent 2,587,282: 1952: Step Gauge for Measuring Thickness of Thin FilmsU.S. Patent 2,589,983: 1952: Electrical Indicator of Mechanical ExpansionU.S. Patent 2,597,562: 1952: Electrically Conducting LayerU.S. Patent 2,636,832: 1953: Method of Forming Semiconducting Layers on Glass and Article Formed Thereby