^{(Photograph = male baboons with Opuntia in Africa)}

Introduction

What a mouthful-of-a-title. What does it mean? Opuntiophagous is derived from two root words: Opuntia and phagous. We all know what Opuntia means. Phagous (from Greek) means “eating something.” Opuntiophagous means “eating Opuntia.” Vertebrates are anything with a backbone: turtles, lizards, birds, cows, goats, etc.

The Details

Park Nobel edited a book that was published in 2002. The title was Cacti, Biology and Uses. There were many chapters and even more authors. Chapter 7 described vertebrates known to eat Opuntia (or some part of an Opuntia).

Fruit was the most commonly eaten part of Opuntia, but seeds, nectar, pollen, cladodes, and even roots were reported.

Tortoises, iguanas, and certain lizards eat various parts of Opuntia. Ostriches, emus, doves, and quail all are known to eat some part of Opuntia. Rabbits, jackrabbits, ground squirrels, and sloths eat Opuntia. Gray foxes, porcupines, and black bears have all been observed eating Opuntia. Bison, mule deer, and goats all eat Opuntia.

In all, 89 vertebrate species (including humans) have been reported to eat Opuntia. The authors mention that most people don’t study the topic and that the observations may have been accidental. They mention that Opuntia are studied a lot in the USA. Perhaps there are many more vertebrates that eat Opuntia, but they have not been reported. Perhaps even more vertebrates eat Opuntia in Mexico (likely). No one seems to have ever made a real study of the topic.

Additional Reading: Vertebrate Consumption of Opuntias