Predators and Prey Lecture

Question 1

What are the stages of predation?

Answer 1

Detection, attack, capture and consumption.

Question 2

How are prey adapted?

Answer 2

Natural selection should favour prey genes that code for traits that allow individuals to avoid predators more effectively.

Question 3

How are predators adapted?

Answer 3

Natural selection should favour predator genes that code for traits that allow individuals to detect and capture prey more effectively.

Question 4

What is an evolutionary arms race?

Answer 4

Richard Dawkins termed this as co-evolution between predators and prey, where adaptations on one side cause counter-adaptations on the other, which continues so forth.

Question 5

What is the “red queen effect”?

Answer 5

This is how predators and prey reach an equilibrium where there is no overall net improvement.

Question 6

What are examples of anti-predator adaptations for not being found?

Answer 6

These include masquerade, such as stick insects, crypsis and disruptive coloration such ad a leopard blending in to the background.

Question 7

What are examples of anti-predator adaptations for avoiding attack?

Answer 7

These include signalling to predators through aposematism or conspicuous defences such as having large teeth or spikes to deter attack.

Question 8

What are examples of anti-predator adaptations for avoiding capture?

Answer 8

These include startle, some moths have large eye spots to startle the predator giving time to escape, some have speed such as antelope being agile.

Question 9

What are examples of anti-predator adaptations for avoiding consumption?

Answer 9

These include physical defences such as how hedgehogs curl up to stop being eaten and some have chemical defences.

Question 10

What are some predator counter-adaptations for detecting prey?

Answer 10

Some have search strategies, for example if prey are cryptic birds can develop techniques to improve searching.

Question 11

What are some predator counter-adaptations for attacking and capturing prey>

Answer 11

Some predators have sharp teeth and claws, can run faster or have stealth to avoid attack and capture.

Question 12

What are some predator counter-adaptations for consuming prey?

Answer 12

Some predators have physical adaptations such as how boa’s can unlock their jaws to consume large prey.

Question 13

What are the two main types of coloration that prey employ?

Answer 13

Conspicuous coloration where prey advertise their defences with warning coloration, and cryptic coloration where prey without toxins try and hide from predators.

Question 14

What did Kettlewell test in moths?

Answer 14

He tested background matching in peppered moths. He pinned moths to trees and measured the predation rates to illustrate that moths on contrasting backgrounds were more likely to be predated. This illustrates selection for background matching.

Question 15

What is disruptive coloration?

Answer 15

Bold and contrasting colours on an animal’s periphery that act to break up its outline.

Question 16

How has disruptive coloration been tested?

Answer 16

Artificial moths were pinned to trees with different patterned wings. It was found that wings with disruptive coloration on the edge were the least predated. This demonstrated selection for disruptive coloration.

Question 17

What is masquerade?

Answer 17

Looking like an inanimate object in the environment. Although the prey is seen by the predator it is misclassified.

Question 18

How has masquerade been tested?

Answer 18

The experience of birds with branches was manipulated prior to any experience with a caterpillar. The birds learnt that the twigs were inedible. They then attacked caterpillars at the same rate as twigs, illustrating that they were misclassifying them as twigs.

Question 19

WHat did Skelhorn et al. (2010) do?

Answer 19

Some chicks experienced a hawthorn branch with leaves, some experiences a hawthorn branch where the visual appearance had been changed, and some experienced no stimulus. Birds with prior experience of twigs took longer to attack the twig-resembling caterpillars than birds with no experience, or experience with the manipulated twig. This illustrates that masquerade promotes the misidentification of the organism.