Related topics: predator
Predation
hideIn 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.
News tagged with prey
Acid test: Study reveals both losers and winners of CO2-induced ocean acidification
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As the world’s seawater becomes more acidic due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, some shelled marine creatures may actually become bigger and stronger, according to a new study.
Spiders Who Eat Together, Stay Together
Biology /
Aug 05, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The ability to work together and capture larger prey has allowed social spiders to stretch the laws of nature and reach enormous colony sizes, UBC zoologists have found.
Men better at distance vision due to hunter-gatherer past: study
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Jul 30, 2009 |
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Men are better at seeing things in the distance due to their hunter-gatherer past chasing animals, while women are better focusing on things at close range, a British study said Thursday.
Study Positively Identifies Giant Squid Presence in Gulf of Mexico
Sep 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- During a recent research cruise, a rare giant squid was captured in the Gulf of Mexico.
Headwater stream nutrient enrichment disrupts food web
Dec 17, 2009 |
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Human activity is increasing the supply of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to stream systems all over the world. The conventional wisdom -- bolstered by earlier research -- has held that these additional nutrients ...
Big cats, wild pigs and short-eared dogs -- oh, my!
Biology /
Jan 27, 2009 |
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The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released photos today from the first large-scale census of jaguars in the Amazon region of Ecuador—one of the most biologically rich regions on the planet.
Skunk's Strategy Not Just Black and White
Nov 10, 2009 |
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Predators with experience of skunks avoid them both because of their black-and-white coloration and their distinctive body shape, according to UC Davis wildlife researcher Jennifer Hunter. The study was published ...
Scientists examine effect of wolves' absence and see an ecosystem 'unraveling'
Biology /
Jan 29, 2009 |
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No trace remains of the wolves whose howls ricocheted for millennia down the lush valleys of the Olympic Peninsula. Settlers and trappers killed them all in little more than three decades.
Scientists find 'Lucky Luke' of the seas
Sep 03, 2009 |
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Could you filter 100,000 cubic metres of syrup every day to find food in a concentration of two grains of rice per cubic metre?
Migratory route of Eleonora's falcon revealed for first time
Oct 16, 2009 |
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Satellite tracking has allowed a research team to uncover the mysteries of the migration of Eleanora's falcon for the first time. In total, the bird flies more than 9,500 kilometres across the African continent ...
Water webs connect spiders, residents in Southwest
Jun 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- If you are a cricket and it is a dry season on the San Pedro River in Arizona, on your nighttime ramblings to eat leaves, you are more likely to be ambushed by thirsty wolf spiders, or so ...
Big predatory mammals such as felines need between 5 and 7 different types of prey to meet their dietary needs
Biology /
Jul 11, 2008 |
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Faced with earlier studies stating that the big predators such as tigers, lions, and lynxes fulfil their dietary needs by eating one or two types of prey, scientists from the University of Malaga assure us ...
Chicken-hearted tyrants: Predatory dinosaurs as baby killers
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Aug 06, 2009 |
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Two titans fighting a bloody battle -- that often turns fatal for both of them. This is how big predatory dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus are often depicted while hunting down their supposed prey: even larger herbivorous dinosaurs. ...
Scientists find universal rules for food-web stability
Aug 06, 2009 |
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The findings, published in this week's issue of Science, conclude that food-web stability is enhanced when many diverse predator-prey links connect high and intermediate trophic levels. The computations also reveal that s ...
Fish Sense Other Fish Via Ripples
Oct 15, 2009 |
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Although humans experience their world through vision, touch and the other senses, many creatures gather information about their surroundings through unique sensory mechanisms that humans don’t have.
