"feeding upon dung," 1856, from Modern Latin, from Latin merda "dung, excrement" (see merde) + -vorous. Perhaps based in French merdivores (by 1830).
Entries linking to merdivorous
merde n.
also merd, "dung, excrement," late 15c., from Old French merde "feces, excrement, dirt" (13c.), from Latin merda "dung, ordure, excrement." De Vaan compares Lithuanian smirdėti "to stink," Latvian smards "smell, odor," dialectal Russian smorod, Ukrainian smorid, genitive smorodu "stink," from a PIE *smerdh- "stench." Merd was naturalized in English through 17c., but subsequently lost and since mid-19c. (and especially since World War I) it has been generally treated as a French word when used in English.
-vorous
word-forming element meaning "eating," from Latin -vorous, from stem of vorare "to devour" (from PIE root *gwora- "food, devouring").