Scavenger is an alteration of scavager, from Middle English skawager meaning "customs collector", from … See more

Obligate scavenging (subsisting entirely or mainly on dead animals) is rare among vertebrates, due to the difficulty of finding enough carrion without expending too much energy.
Well-know… See more

Scavengers play a fundamental role in the environment through the removal of decaying organisms, serving as a natural sanitation service. While microscopic and invertebrate decomposers break down dead organisms i… See more

Many species that scavenge face persecution globally. Vultures, in particular, have faced incredible persecution and threats by humans. Before its ban by regional governments in 2006, the veterinary … See more

Highly efficient scavengers, also known as dominant or apex-scavengers, can have benefits to humans. Increases in dominant scavenger populations, such as vultures, can reduce populations of smaller opportunisti… See more

In the 1980s, Lewis Binford suggested that early humans primarily obtained meat via scavenging, not through hunting. In 2010, Dennis Bramble and Daniel Lieberman proposed that early carnivorous human ancestors s… See more

• White-backed vultures feeding on a carcass of a wildebeest
• A jungle crow feeding on a small dead shark
• Coyote feeding on an elk carcass in winter in Lamar Valley, near Yellowstone National Park … See more