Thanatophages, are organisms that obtain
nutrient
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...
s by consuming decomposing dead plant biomass.
Ecology
In
food webs
A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Another name for food web is consumer-resource system. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one ...
, thanatophages generally play the roles of
decomposers.
The eating of wood, whether live or dead, is known as
xylophagy. The activity of animals feeding only on dead wood is called sapro-xylophagy and those animals, sapro-xylophagous.
''Saprophytes''
''Saprophyte'' (''-phyte'' meaning "plant") is a
botanical term that is no longer in popular use, as such plants have been discovered to actually be parasitic on
fungi. There are no real
saprotrophic organisms that are
embryophytes
The Embryophyta (), or land plants, are the most familiar group of green plants that comprise vegetation on Earth. Embryophytes () have a common ancestor with green algae, having emerged within the Phragmoplastophyta clade of green algae as siste ...
, and fungi and bacteria are no longer placed in the
plant kingdom. Plants that were once considered saprophytes, such as non-photosynthetic
orchids and
monotropes, are now known to be
parasites on fungi. These species are now termed
myco-heterotrophs.
[Werner PG. 2006]
Myco-heterotrophs: Hacking the mycorrhizal network.
''Mycena News
The Mycological Society of San Francisco (MSSF) is an amateur club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, "dedicated to promoting the understanding and enjoyment of fungi." Meetings are held every third Tuesday, and the society newsletter, ''Mycen ...
'' 57:1,8.
See also
*
Necrophage
Necrophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carcasses and corpses. The term derives from Greek , meaning 'dead', and , meaning 'to eat.' Mainly, necrophages ar ...
*
Detritivore
Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, ...
*
Decomposer
*
Saprotrophic nutrition
*
Consumer-resource systems
References
{{modelling ecosystems
Eating behaviors
Mycology
Soil biology