FYI

I stumbled upon an old email from a backpacker friend in Chicago (who also happens to be a biology/genetics professor at Northwestern). Thought you might find this interesting...

I had asked since blood is a tissue and carnivores eat these types of tissues, are leeches carnivores?

Technically they are two things:

1. Carnivores because they eat meat

2. Sanguivores because they eat (drink?) blood

Normally they're only referred to as sanguivores because it's more specific.

It's just that when people think "carnivore" they equate it with "predator" (lions and tigers and bears, oh my!). That's not exactly correct. Both vampire bats and leeches are sanguivores (therefore carnivores)... but parasites.

And now you know!