tertiary consumer

[ tur-shee-er-ee kuhn-soo-mer, tur-shuh-ree ]

noun

, Ecology.

1. a carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores; an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers.

tertiary consumer

1. See under consumer

Example Sentences

Center: Mary Ann Linahan; Right: Robert E. Klein/Associate Press What tertiary looks like, left to right: syphilis, a street in Queens, a tertiary consumer and its prey.

From New York Times