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Solitary predator: a polar bear feeds on a bearded seal it has killed. Social predators: meat ants cooperate to feed on a cicada far larger than themselves. Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey.
Shimmering behaviour of Apis dorsata (giant honeybees). A group of animals fleeing from a predator shows the nature of herd behavior, for example in 1971, in the oft-cited article "Geometry for the Selfish Herd", evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamilton asserted that each individual group member reduces the danger to itself by moving as close as possible to the center of the fleeing group.
Steve Sapontzis, in his 1984 paper "Predation" argues against the idea that the problem of predation is a reductio ad absurdum for animal rights, instead, he claims that if we accept the view that we have an obligation to reduce avoidable animal suffering, then predation is something that we should work towards preventing if we can do so ...
An extensively studied example is the fiddler crab. When exposed to a predator, fiddler crabs move in ways that are consistent with the selfish herd theory. [5] Dispersed groups are more likely to form an aggregate when subjected to danger and crabs attempt to run toward the center of a forming group. [12] Selfish herd behavior is seen also in:
A familiar example is the broken-wing display seen in nesting waders, plovers and doves such as the mourning dove. In this display, a bird walks away from its nest with one wing dragging on the ground. It seems to be an easy target, thus distracting the predator's attention away from the nest.
Hyperpredation has been recorded in an ecosystem involving a bird (native prey), a cat (alien predator), and a rabbit (alien prey). Hyperpredation, also known as hypopredation, is when a generalist predator increases its predation pressure as a result of the introduction of a substitute prey. [1]
For example, when an alert bird deliberately gives a warning call to a stalking predator and the predator gives up the hunt, the sound is a "signal". But when a foraging bird inadvertently makes a rustling sound in the leaves that attracts predators and increases the risk of predation, the sound is not a signal, but a cue. [4]
The definition of preference will therefore impact the understanding of switching. The most common definition of preference is the relationship between the ratio of prey in the environment and the ratio of prey in a predator's diet. It has been independently proposed a number of times and is described by the equation: