LECTURE 12 - Carnivore Capture Flashcards
What are the strong claws on birds of prey called? Give an example of a bird with these.
Talons / Hawks
Describe how Osprey have special physical adaptations for capturing their prey. (2)
Have special FEET!
- Sharp scales on their feet to hold slippery fish
- Reversible toe turn fish head first to be more aerodynamic
Describe how the Hooded and Red Billed Mergansers special adaptations for capturing prey.
Have special BILLS!
- Tubular narrow bills
- Serrations on the edge of their bills to hold fish
What are modified incisors called and what are they used for? What two animals have these?
Canines to help grab and capture prey.
Otters and Racoons
What do tiger beetles have to help capture prey?
Mandibles
What is the action the frog tongues make?
Tongue Flick
What animals have modified toungues for capturing prey?
Frogs and Woodpeckers
What special adaptation do woodpeckers have to help capture prey?
Extensible tongue with hydroid horns
What type of special capture adaptation do praying mantis’s have?
raptorial legs
What phrase describes how foxes use their canines?
Shake and Break
What phrase describes how wolves use their canines?
Slash and Shock (bite prey repeatedly to get a mortal wound)
How do weasels use their canines?
Bite into brain case
How do cats use their canines?
Bite into the neck vertebrae
Describe the Shrike birds adaptations for hunting prey
Raptorial bill with a meathook tip
Describe snakes physical adaptations for hunting prey.
- some can unhinge jaw and swallow prey alive
- some kill before hand by constricting the prey
Name the two snakes that use constriction to kill their prey.
Gray rat snakes and milk snakes
What is venom?
An injected toxin
What do snakes also inject with the venom?
Digestive enzymes
Name the 5 animals that inject venom with digestive enzymes.
Massasauga Rattle Snake Crab Spider Assassins Bugs Robber Fly Short Tailed Shew
Parts that can’t be digested are called _______ ______.
Indigestible parts
How do spiders avoid indigestible parts?
Digestive enzymes / slurp insides throw away case
How do hawks avoid indigestible parts? What is this called
Pluck the feathers off their prey. Selective feeding.
How do Fishers avoid indigestible parts?
Skin Porcupines
How do Eastern Wolves and owls avoid indigestible parts?
Eat the small bones ad then poop out the pieces.
What are a couple drawbacks of being a predator? (5)
- Prey fight back
- Might get injured during the capture or chase
- human poison’s that accumulate through the food web
- human prejudice
- starvation
What is bioaccumulation / botulism? Give an example.
Posions that we create that move up through the food web and magnify.
Peregrine Falcons driven to extinction from DDT = thinner eggshells + behavioral changes = no young produced.
