Meanings
- not comparablebiologyCapable of trapping and killing insects or other animals but lacking the ability to digest or absorb nutrients from its prey.
Pinedrops and other protocarnivorous species have an advantage over other plants in situations where soil nitrogen is scarce.
2007, Carolyn Dodson, William W. Dunmire, Mountain Wildflowers of the Southern Rockies: Revealing Their Natural History, University of New Mexico Press, page 452 more examples
Recently, a new distinction has been made between the classical carnivorous plants, terrestrial or aquatic, and the newly discovered protocarnivorous plants.
1998, Pierre Jolivet, Interrelationship Between Insects and Plants, CRC Press, page 101The abundance of dead and decaying animals turns the traps into attractive habits for different organisms. Carnivorous and protocarnivorous plants employ two different strategies to face this challenge: […]
2011, Janek von Byern, Ingo Grunwald, editors, Biological Adhesive Systems, Springer Science & Business Media, page 24Synonyms: paracarnivorous, subcarnivorous
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveCapable of trapping and killing insects or other animals but lacking the ability to digest or absorb nutrients from its prey.
Origin
Cite this entry
protocarnivorous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protocarnivorous
“protocarnivorous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protocarnivorous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “protocarnivorous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protocarnivorous.
Source: protocarnivorous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.