News tagged with predator
Octopuses focus on key features for successful camouflage
Octopuses camouflage themselves by matching their body pattern to selected features of nearby objects, rather than trying to match the entire larger field of view, according to new research published in the ...
May 23, 2012 |
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Bats: What sounds good doesn't always taste good
Bats use a combination of cues in their hunting sequence - capture, handling and consumption - to decide which prey to attack, catch and consume and which ones they are better off leaving alone or dropping ...
May 21, 2012 |
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Elephant seal tracking reveals hidden lives of deep-diving animals
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who pioneered the use of satellite tags to monitor the migrations of elephant seals have compiled one of the largest datasets available for any marine mammal species, ...
May 15, 2012 |
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An incisive design solution: The spider's venomous fang
(Phys.org) -- Although their armor consists of the same material as their predator’s fangs, flies, grasshoppers and other insects that are the usual prey of spiders have little to offer by way of defence ...
May 11, 2012 |
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Biodiversity could be casualty of Myanmar openness
(AP) -- As many as 40,000 gorgeously plumed birds known as the Gurney's pitta thrive in the lowland rainforests of economically backward Myanmar. Across the border, Thailand's last five pairs are guarded around ...
May 07, 2012 |
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Bigger and brainier: did dingoes kill thylacines?
Direct attacks by introduced dingoes may have led to the extinction on the Australian mainland of the iconic marsupial predator, the thylacine, a new study suggests.
May 03, 2012 |
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Escape response of small fish tested using a supercomputer
(Phys.org) -- Small fish bend themselves into a 'C' shape before they flee from predators. Observations have suggested that this shape helps them to abruptly put the greatest distance possible between themselves ...
May 02, 2012 |
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First fruitful, then futile: Ammonites or the boon and bane of many offspring
Ammonites changed their reproductive strategy from initially few and large offspring to numerous and small hatchlings. Thanks to their many offspring, they survived three mass extinctions, a research team ...
Apr 23, 2012 |
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Possum pest feeds thriving N. Zealand fur industry
The brushtail possum, a cuddly-looking marsupial protected in its native Australia, has become a reviled feral pest in New Zealand, its fur providing a lucrative sideline for hunters who supply a burgeoning ...
Apr 19, 2012 |
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Escalating arms race: Predatory sea urchins drive evolution
(Phys.org) -- Nature teems with examples of evolutionary arms races between predators and prey, with the predator species gradually evolving a new mode of attack for each defensive adaptation that arises in ...
Apr 17, 2012 |
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Loss of predators in Northern Hemisphere affecting ecosystem health
A survey done on the loss in the Northern Hemisphere of large predators, particularly wolves, concludes that current populations of moose, deer, and other large herbivores far exceed their historic levels ...
Apr 09, 2012 |
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Cutting through ancient evidence of human tool use
The earliest evidence of human tool use may be written on the bones of other animals, but in order to produce reliable conclusions, researchers are calling for improved tools and analysis, including an easy-to-access ...
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Apr 06, 2012 |
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Vomiting caterpillars weigh up costs and benefits of group living
(PhysOrg.com) -- A type of caterpillar which defends itself by regurgitating on its predators is less likely to do so when in groups than when alone, a new study by researchers from the University of Bristol ...
Apr 06, 2012 |
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Mites form friendly societies
For plant-inhabiting predatory mites, living among familiar neighbors reduces stress. This allows individuals to focus on other tasks and be more productive, in particular while they are foraging. The new study by Markus ...
Mar 29, 2012 |
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Man vs. Shark: Australia's battle for the deep
Rolling from his surfboard, blood gushing from the wound where a shark had just ripped a big chunk of flesh from his thigh, Australian Glen Folkard had just one thought: "I'm alive."
Mar 23, 2012 |
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Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator (an organism that is hunting) feeds on its prey, (the organism that is attacked). Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey. The other main category of consumption is detritivory, the consumption of dead organic material (detritus). It can at times be difficult to separate the two feeding behaviors, for example where parasitic species prey on a host organism and then lay their eggs on it for their offspring to feed on its decaying corpse. The key characteristic of predation however is the predator's direct impact on the prey population. On the other hand, detritivores simply eat what is available and have no direct impact on the "donor" organism(s).
Selective pressures imposed on one another has led to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in various antipredator adaptations.
For more information about Predation, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
