Definition of "heterotrophs" [heterotrophs]

• Plural form of heterotroph. (noun)

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• "The fauna are heterotrophs, meaning that they eat dead organisms and use oxygen for cellular respiration."
• "More autotroph biomass is just going to provide more organic material for heterotrophs."
• "Assuming a prokaryotic mutation rate of 4 × 10 − 7 mutations per gene per DNA replication (86, 87), four simultaneous mutations in every gene shared by the populations of marine heterotrophs (in the upper 200 m), marine autotrophs, soil prokaryotes, or prokaryotes in domestic animals would be expected to occur once every 0.4, 0.5, 3.4, or 170 hr, respectively."