Although modern carnivores are a diverse group when it comes to diet, a typical carnivore feeds mostly on meat. Meat-eating carnivores tend to have a set of sharp-tipped teeth (carnassials), a characteristic of ancestral carnivores. Modified from molars, carnassials are specialized for slicing flesh. While meat is easier to digest, prey must be found, captured, and killed. Hunting collaboratively is sometimes more effective than hunting alone, and many large carnivores hunt in groups. Elaborate social behaviors have evolved around hunting, such as the dominance hierarchy in a pack of wolves. Even carnivores that do not hunt collaboratively, such as harbor seals and coatis, may live in social groups. Benefits of grouping may include sharing care of young or sharing defense of territory. Young carnivores must learn to hunt, which often means an extended training period. Carnivores have a high ratio of brain to body mass, allowing for the learning, coordination, and agility needed for hunting.

Mammals have a unique arrangement of a lower jaw directly hinged to the skull. The upper jaw is fixed, while the lower jaw is movable. A powerful bite results which, coupled with specialized teeth, allows mammals to eat a diversity of foods. Straight-edged incisor teeth at the front of the jaw are for cutting and gnawing. Pointed, canine teeth on the sides can grab and tear meat. Flat, broad molars are used to grind or crush plants or shelled animals. Mammals tend to have more than one type of tooth (heterodont dentition), with the mix depending on diet. Meat-eaters have sharp incisors and canines plus slicing molars; mammals who eat tough plants have duller incisors and canines, but large, ridged molars. All types of mammal teeth are replaced once or never during a mammal's lifetime. A coating of enamel, the hardest material found in a mammal's body, makes teeth built to last.