A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions, and if a heterotroph, has a varied diet. Specialist species can only thrive in a narrow range of environmental conditions and/or has a limited diet. A heterotroph (Greek heteron = (an)other and trophe = nutrition) is an organism that requires organic substrates to get its carbon for growth and development. ...

Omnivores, which eat both plants and meat, are usually generalists, but herbivores which eat a variety of plants may also be considered generalists. A well-known example of a specialist animal is the koala bear which subsists almost entirely on eucalyptus leaves. The raccoon is a generalist because it has a natural range that includes most of North and Central America, and it is omnivorous, eating berries, insects, eggs and small animals. An omnivore (from Latin: omnis all; vorare to devour) is an animal that eats both plants and meat. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Various meats Meat, in its broadest modern definition, is all animal tissue intended to be used as food. ... A deer and two fawns feeding on some foliage In zoology, a herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat primarily plant matter (rather than meat). ... Binomial name Aptenodytes forsteri Gray, 1844 For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Phascolarctos cinereus Goldfuss, 1817 The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus; sometimes also spelled Phascolarctus cinereus) is a thickset arboreal marsupial herbivore endemic to Australia, and the only representative of its family, Phascolarctidae. ... Species About 700; see the List of Eucalyptus species Wikispecies has information related to: Eucalyptus Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of trees (rarely shrubs), the members of which dominate the tree flora of Australia. ... Type Species Ursus lotor Linnaeus, 1758 Species Procyon cancrivorus Procyon insularis Procyon lotor Raccoons are mammals native to the Americas in the genus Procyon of the Procyonidae family. ... This article is about the fruit. ... Classes & Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and (on land) most widely-distributed taxon within the phylum Arthropoda. ... An average Whooping Crane egg is 102 mm long, and weighs 208 grams In some animals, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ... Binomial name Aptenodytes forsteri Gray, 1844 For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ...

The distinction between generalists and specialists is not limited to animals. For example, some plants require a narrow range of temperatures, soil conditions and precipitation to survive while others can tolerate a broader range of conditions. A cactus could be considered a specialist species. It will die during winters at high latitudes or if it receives a lot of water. Soil is material capable of supporting plant life. ... Genera See Taxonomy of the Cactaceae Cactus is the name given to any member of the flowering plant family Cactaceae. ... Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ...