Predation

qas: question: What must a species do in order to be classified as a predator?
answers: text: direct impact on the prey population

question: How would you describe a predator that primarily eats plants?
answers: text: herbivory

question: A predator must do what to the prey after it is killed? 
answers: text: absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption

question: A species that uses a host body to survive and reproduce is classified as a what?
answers: text: parasitic species

question: How would you describe a diet of a species that eats primarily dead organic material? 
answers: text: detritivory

question: What does an herbivore eat?
answers: text: plants

question: Do detritivores have a direct impact on "donor" organisms?
answers: text: no

question: What term is given to an organism that is being hunted?
answers: text: prey

question: What term is given to the biological interaction where a predator feeds upon prey?
answers: text: predation

question: What do detritivores eat?
answers: text: dead organic material

question: What is the key characteristic of predation?
answers: text: predator's direct impact on the prey population

question: What is the definition of a host system?

question: What does prey eventually do to its predator's tissue in defense?

question: What is the feeding nature of some prey?

question: When does a carnivore know when it has a parasite?

question: What does a detrivore have a direct impact on while its trying to mature?
context: In an ecosystem, predation is 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 often results in the death of the prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption. Thus predation is often, though not always, carnivory. Other categories of consumption are herbivory (eating parts of plants), fungivory (eating parts of fungi), and detritivory (the consumption of dead organic material (detritus)). All these consumption categories fall under the rubric of consumer-resource systems. It can often be difficult to separate various types of feeding behaviors. For example, some parasitic species prey on a host organism and then lay their eggs on it for their offspring to feed on it while it continues to live in or on its decaying corpse after it has died. The key characteristic of predation however is the predator's direct impact on the prey population. On the other hand, detritivores simply eat dead organic material arising from the decay of dead individuals and have no direct impact on the "donor" organism(s).

qas: question: How many synergetic qualities are there in the predator-prey mechanism? 
answers: text: Two factors

question: Proximity and the ending of life is called? 
answers: text: true predation

question: If the prey is not killed the predator-prey interaction is called? 
answers: text: parasitoidism

question: Instead of what predators eat, how else can they be classified?
answers: text: the way in which they eat

question: Certain death is involved with true predation and what other classification?
answers: text: parasitoidism

question: The study in which ecologists examine the way predators interact with their prey is called what?
answers: text: predation

question: What is one way prey is classified?

question: Who is involved in classifying different types of prey?

question: What method is used to keep track of how prey tries to escape their predator?

question: How many factors are used when studying how prey avoids their predator?

question: What is the study of how prey evades capture by a predator called?
context: Classification of predators by the extent to which they feed on and interact with their prey is one way ecologists may wish to categorize the different types of predation. Instead of focusing on what they eat, this system classifies predators by the way in which they eat, and the general nature of the interaction between predator and prey species. Two factors are considered here: How close the predator and prey are (in the latter two cases the term prey may be replaced with host) and whether or not the prey are directly murdered by the predator is considered, with true predation and parasitoidism involving certain death.

qas: question: What do household animals prey upon? 
answers: text: large and small prey

question: Name an exemplar of an predator that uses digestion to kill and gain nutrients from it's prey.
answers: text: Baleen whales

question: To be classified as a predator, what action must be performed?
answers: text: harm their prey in some way

question: What requirement must a true predator fulfill?
answers: text: kills and eats another living thing

question: What is different about a true predator?
answers: text: Whereas other types of predator all harm their prey in some way, this form kills them

question: All types of predators do what?
answers: text: harm their prey in some way

question: How do ambush predators hunt?
answers: text: sit and wait for prey to approach within striking distance

question: What do box jellyfish use to hunt their pray?
answers: text: venom

question: What is one thing prey can do if they know a predator is approaching?

question: What do prey sometimes consume as food?

question: What do rabbits like to do with their food when foraging?

question: What do large insects do at night after the sun goes down?

question: What have cats sometimes been seen doing in the yard of their home?
context: A true predator can commonly be known as one that kills and eats another living thing. Whereas other types of predator all harm their prey in some way, this form kills them. Predators may hunt actively for prey in pursuit predation, or sit and wait for prey to approach within striking distance, as in ambush predators. Some predators kill large prey and dismember or chew it prior to eating it, such as a jaguar or a human; others may eat their (usually much smaller) prey whole, as does a bottlenose dolphin swallowing a fish, or a snake, duck or stork swallowing a frog. Some animals that kill both large and small prey for their size (domestic cats and dogs are prime examples) may do either depending upon the circumstances; either would devour a large insect whole but dismember a rabbit. Some predation entails venom that subdues a prey creature before the predator ingests the prey by killing, which the box jellyfish does, or disabling it, found in the behavior of the cone shell. In some cases, the venom, as in rattlesnakes and some spiders, contributes to the digestion of the prey item even before the predator begins eating. In other cases, the prey organism may die in the mouth or digestive system of the predator. Baleen whales, for example, eat millions of microscopic plankton at once, the prey being broken down well after entering the whale. Seed predation and egg predation are other forms of true predation, as seeds and eggs represent potential organisms. Predators of this classification need not eat prey entirely. For example, some predators cannot digest bones, while others can. Some may eat only part of an organism, as in grazing (see below), but still consistently cause its direct death.

qas: question: Animals that consume parts of their prey are considered to be
answers: text: Grazing organisms

question: Prey that can regrow leaves or arms have learned to deal with what?
answers: text: browsing pressure

question: Give an example of an animal that feeds off of other animals for reproduction? 
answers: text: mosquitos

question: Give an example of a predator that specializes in eating autotrophic species
answers: text: zooplankton

question: What is an organism that grazes upon other animals?
answers: text: female mosquitos

question: What is an organism that can regrow lost arms?
answers: text: Starfish

question: Do grazing organisms often kill their prey?
answers: text: seldom

question: How do grass and kelp deal with being grazed upon?
answers: text: regrows at the base

question: What organism can kill their prey by biting?

question: What does zooplankton gain for its offspring by attaching to a host?

question: What does zooplankton need to get enough protein to help the development of?

question: How much of a starfish does phytoplnakton eat when it attaches to it?

question: What does zooplankton have to cope with when eaten by starfish?
context: Grazing organisms may also kill their prey species, but this is seldom the case. While some herbivores like zooplankton live on unicellular phytoplankton and therefore, by the individualized nature of the organism, kill their prey, many only eat a small part of the plant. Grazing livestock may pull some grass out at the roots, but most is simply grazed upon, allowing the plant to regrow once again. Kelp is frequently grazed in subtidal kelp forests, but regrows at the base of the blade continuously to cope with browsing pressure. Animals may also be 'grazed' upon; female mosquitos land on hosts briefly to gain sufficient proteins for the development of their offspring. Starfish may be grazed on, being capable of regenerating lost arms.

qas: question: Species that rely on few or a single prey are called?
answers: text: Parasites

question: Predator and prey relationships that improve fitness for both species are classified as this type of relationship.
answers: text: mutualism

question: Give an example of an animal that will travel several miles in a single day.
answers: text: elephant

question: What plant associated with kissing during the holidays is also parasitic? 
answers: text: mistletoe

question: How are parasites distiguished from grazers?
answers: text: close association with their host species

question: How many hosts do parasites typically have?
answers: text: one or at most a few in their lifetime

question: How should parasite classification be viewed instead of as four isolated forms?
answers: text: a continuum

question: What does the term symbiosis mean?
answers: text: living together

question: What kind of relationship do grazers have with their host more so than parasites?

question: Cholera is limited to how many spots to feed in its lifetime?

question: What is another word for macroscopic?

question: How many forms are used to classify a single plant?

question: What is damaged in a mutual relationship?
context: Parasites can at times be difficult to distinguish from grazers. Their feeding behavior is similar in many ways, however they are noted for their close association with their host species. While a grazing species such as an elephant may travel many kilometers in a single day, grazing on many plants in the process, parasites form very close associations with their hosts, usually having only one or at most a few in their lifetime. This close living arrangement may be described by the term symbiosis, "living together", but unlike mutualism the association significantly reduces the fitness of the host. Parasitic organisms range from the macroscopic mistletoe, a parasitic plant, to microscopic internal parasites such as cholera. Some species however have more loose associations with their hosts. Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) larvae may feed parasitically on only a single plant, or they may graze on several nearby plants. It is therefore wise to treat this classification system as a continuum rather than four isolated forms.

qas: question: This species relies on other species to provide a reproductive host for their offspring.
answers: text: ichneumon wasps

question: It is believed that parasitoids account for what percentage of the total insect population? 
answers: text: 10%

question: During a parasitoid-host interaction what will happen to the host?
answers: text: death

question: What is the term given to organisms living and feeding on their host?
answers: text: Parasitoids

question: How many organisms in the insect species are Diptera or Cleoptera parasitoids?
answers: text: 10%

question: Which type of wasp is a well-known example of a parasitoid?
answers: text: ichneumon

question: How do the larvae of the parasitoid wasps kill their prey?
answers: text: devouring the internal organs until finally destroying the nervous system

question: How do caterpillars feed during the day?

question: What does a caterpillar living on an organism do to the organism?

question: What kind of relationship to caterpillars have with their host?

question: How do caterpillars harm their hosts?

question: What percent of insect species are catepillars?
context: Parasitoids are organisms living in or on their host and feeding directly upon it, eventually leading to its death. They are much like parasites in their close symbiotic relationship with their host or hosts. Like the previous two classifications parasitoid predators do not kill their hosts instantly. However, unlike parasites, they are very similar to true predators in that the fate of their prey is quite inevitably death. A well-known example of a parasitoids are the ichneumon wasps, solitary insects living a free life as an adult, then laying eggs on or in another species such as a caterpillar. Its larva(e) feed on the growing host causing it little harm at first, but soon devouring the internal organs until finally destroying the nervous system resulting in prey death. By this stage the young wasp(s) are developed sufficiently to move to the next stage in their life cycle. Though limited mainly to the insect order Hymenoptera, Diptera and Coleoptera parasitoids make up as much as 10% of all insect species.

qas: question: Species that aren't considered specialized are called what? 
answers: text: opportunistic

question: Predator and prey interactions that involve specialization result in a balance called?
answers: text: equilibrium

question: When a specialized species resorts to foraging and eating other diets, it's like because it's primary food source is?
answers: text: scarce

question: What do specialized predators and prey rely on to get the upper hand? 
answers: text: evolution

question: What are some predators that will kill and eat nearly anything?
answers: text: humans, leopards, dogs and alligators

question: What term is used for predators and prey being well suited to hunt and evade each other?
answers: text: evolutionary arms race

question: What is the purpose of an evolutionary arms race?
answers: text: keep the populations of both species in equilibrium

question: If scavengers' food becomes scarce, they may turn to what type of diet?
answers: text: herbivorous

question: What is there a large degree of among herbivores?

question: What is an example of a predator that eat only certain prey classes?

question: What are single prey species always well suited for?

question: What term describes how predators occasionally switch to a scavenging or herbivorous diet?

question: When alligators turn to an herbivorous diet what does this action maintain in their habitat?
context: Among predators there is a large degree of specialization. Many predators specialize in hunting only one species of prey. Others are more opportunistic and will kill and eat almost anything (examples: humans, leopards, dogs and alligators). The specialists are usually particularly well suited to capturing their preferred prey. The prey in turn, are often equally suited to escape that predator. This is called an evolutionary arms race and tends to keep the populations of both species in equilibrium. Some predators specialize in certain classes of prey, not just single species. Some will switch to other prey (with varying degrees of success) when the preferred target is extremely scarce, and they may also resort to scavenging or a herbivorous diet if possible.[citation needed]

qas: question: What is the the strata of predator prey interaction called?
answers: text: trophic level

question: What is the top predator in an environment called? 
answers: text: apex predator

question: When a new apex predator moves into an area this changes. 
answers: text: trophic pyramid

question: What limits the size of a trophic pyramid? 
answers: text: energy

question: Which organisms are known as primary consumers?
answers: text: Organisms that feed on autotrophs

question: What makes an organism a secondary consumer?
answers: text: feed on heterotrophs

question: What is an organism at the top of the food chain called?
answers: text: apex predator

question: How many levels does a predatory pyramid or heirarchy typically climb?
answers: text: five or six levels

question: In what pyramid position is an organism not preyed upon by any other predators?
answers: text: the top

question: By what level is prey classified?

question: How many levels does the classifying of prey usually go?

question: What happens to their position when prey is introduced into another habitat?

question: What is an autotroph called when its on top of the food chain?

question: What happens when you put autotrophs in an area without prey?
context: Predators are often another organism's prey, and likewise prey are often predators. Though blue jays prey on insects, they may in turn be prey for cats and snakes, and snakes may be the prey of hawks. One way of classifying predators is by trophic level. Organisms that feed on autotrophs, the producers of the trophic pyramid, are known as herbivores or primary consumers; those that feed on heterotrophs such as animals are known as secondary consumers. Secondary consumers are a type of carnivore, but there are also tertiary consumers eating these carnivores, quartary consumers eating them, and so forth. Because only a fraction of energy is passed on to the next level, this hierarchy of predation must end somewhere, and very seldom goes higher than five or six levels, and may go only as high as three trophic levels (for example, a lion that preys upon large herbivores such as wildebeest, which in turn eat grasses). A predator at the top of any food chain (that is, one that is preyed upon by no organism) is called an apex predator; examples include the orca, sperm whale, anaconda, Komodo dragon, tiger, lion, tiger shark, Nile crocodile, and most eagles and owls—and even omnivorous humans and grizzly bears. An apex predator in one environment may not retain this position as a top predator if introduced to another habitat, such as a dog among alligators, a skunk in the presence of the great horned owl immune to skunk spray, or a snapping turtle among jaguars; a predatory species introduced into an area where it faces no predators, such as a domestic cat or a dog in some insular environments, can become an apex predator by default.

qas: question: Dead animals that died as a result of natural causes or non-fatal injuries are called?
answers: text: carrion

question: Why are species can be difficult to classify because they?
answers: text: eat from multiple levels of the food chain

question: What are plants that eat both living species and consume sunlight for energy called? 
answers: text: Carnivorous plants

question: What are organisms called that show carnivory and herbivory?
answers: text: omnivores

question: What can make classification of predators problematic when using a food pyramid?
answers: text: Many organisms (of which humans are prime examples) eat from multiple levels of the food chain

question: Why would carnivourous plants be difficult to classify into a food pyramid?
answers: text: producing their own food but also digesting anything that they may trap

question: Would it be easy or difficult to classify organims that eat parasites in a food pyramid?
answers: text: difficult

question: From how many levels of the food chain do parasites usually eat?

question: What is difficult because parasites eat from more than one food pyramid level?

question: What are parasites also known as since they eat from more than one level?

question: What is the nature of the giant panda when its cornered?

question: What is one thing that giant pandas usually like to eat daily?
context: Many organisms (of which humans are prime examples) eat from multiple levels of the food chain and, thus, make this classification problematic. A carnivore may eat both secondary and tertiary consumers, and its prey may itself be difficult to classify for similar reasons. Organisms showing both carnivory and herbivory are known as omnivores. Even herbivores such as the giant panda may supplement their diet with meat. Scavenging of carrion provides a significant part of the diet of some of the most fearsome predators. Carnivorous plants would be very difficult to fit into this classification, producing their own food but also digesting anything that they may trap. Organisms that eat detritivores or parasites would also be difficult to classify by such a scheme.

qas: question: Intraguild species consumer other species within?
answers: text: the same trophic level

question: Who proposes the concept of the "survival machine?"
answers: text: Richard Dawkins

question: The argument of the "survival machines" proposes that what two species are competing for the same genes?
answers: text: both the predator and prey

question: Intraguild species may try to consume each other because they are?
answers: text: potential competitors

question: Who described predation by describing competing genes within the predator?
answers: text: Richard Dawkins

question: To what part of the prey does Richard Dawkins refer to as the "survival machine"?
answers: text: the body

question: What are intraguild predators?
answers: text: those that kill and eat other predators of different species at the same trophic level

question: What term is used to decribe predators that prey on their own competition?
answers: text: Intraguild

question: Which version of evolutionary theory is easiest to use when explaining predation as competition?
answers: text: gene centered view

question: What did Richard Dawkins think prey eating each other was a form of?

question: Why do prey species try to hunt each other?

question: What is a term that means one prey species eating another?

question: What is one thing that makes prey faster at hunting for another prey species?

question: What view helps you understand why prey eat each other?
context: An alternative view offered by Richard Dawkins is of predation as a form of competition: the genes of both the predator and prey are competing for the body (or 'survival machine') of the prey organism. This is best understood in the context of the gene centered view of evolution. Another manner in which predation and competition are connected is throughout intraguild predation. Intraguild predators are those that kill and eat other predators of different species at the same trophic level, and thus that are potential competitors.

qas: question: What is the title of a predator that maintains balance with an ecosystem?
answers: text: keystone species

question: What is the driving force for maintaining an equilibrium within an ecosystem?
answers: text: biodiversity

question: When a keystone species is lost another species might become?
answers: text: dominant

question: What is increased by keeping a single species from being dominant in an ecosystem?
answers: text: biodiversity of communities

question: Predators that prevent others from becoming dominant are called what?
answers: text: keystone species

question: What changes to a keystone predator can seriously affect an ecosystem's equilibrium?
answers: text: Introduction or removal of this predator, or changes in its population density

question: What does one singe species usually prevent a predator from doing?

question: What are single species also known as?

question: What influence does one single species have on an ecosystem?

question: What kind of effect happens when a single species population changes?

question: What does a single species dominating the area help promote in a community?
context: Predators may increase the biodiversity of communities by preventing a single species from becoming dominant. Such predators are known as keystone species and may have a profound influence on the balance of organisms in a particular ecosystem. Introduction or removal of this predator, or changes in its population density, can have drastic cascading effects on the equilibrium of many other populations in the ecosystem. For example, grazers of a grassland may prevent a single dominant species from taking over.

qas: question: What animal's food sources were greatly affected with the loss of wolves in Yellowstone National Park?
answers: text: beavers

question: Broader ecological impacts can occur when an apex predator is removed, in the case of Yellowstone, this includes alteration to the?
answers: text: hydrological features

question: Loose soil from lack of trees along the river bed resulted in?
answers: text: channel incision

question: The removal of what animal from Yellowstonw National Park affected beaver populations?
answers: text: wolves

question: How did the removal of wolves from Yellowstone affect beaver habitats?
answers: text: habitat became territory for grazing.

question: Why were plant populations affected after wolves were eliminated from Yellowstone?
answers: text: Without predation, herbivores began to over-graze many woody browse species

question: How did wolves in Yellowstone help beavers eat well?
answers: text: wolves often kept animals from grazing in riparian areas, which protected beavers from having their food sources encroached upon

question: What changes happened when herbivores were eliminated in Yellowstone?

question: Where did beavers keep animals from grazing?

question: What animals were protected when herbivores were in Yellowstone?

question: What group was directly affected when herbivores were removed from the park?

question: What natural features work better when herbivores are present?
context: The elimination of wolves from Yellowstone National Park had profound impacts on the trophic pyramid. Without predation, herbivores began to over-graze many woody browse species, affecting the area's plant populations. In addition, wolves often kept animals from grazing in riparian areas, which protected beavers from having their food sources encroached upon. The removal of wolves had a direct effect on beaver populations, as their habitat became territory for grazing. Furthermore, predation keeps hydrological features such as creeks and streams in normal working order. Increased browsing on willows and conifers along Blacktail Creek due to a lack of predation caused channel incision because they helped slow the water down and hold the soil in place.

qas: question: At most there are how many step of predator-prey interaction? 
answers: text: maximum of four stages

question: What is the first step of the predator-prey interaction?
answers: text: Detection of prey

question: How does the prey improve their evolutionary abilities through predator-prey interaction? 
answers: text: array of adaptations

question: Who doesn't benefit from the predator-prey interaction? 
answers: text: the individuals preyed upon

question: How many stages can predation be divided into?
answers: text: maximum of four stages

question: What are the four stages of predation?
answers: text: Detection of prey, attack, capture and finally consumption

question: What dilemma has resulted in many predatory adaptations?
answers: text: obtain food or avoid being eaten

question: In predation's four stages, in what stage is consumption?
answers: text: final

question: How many categories can prey be divided into?

question: What group seems to have changed the most through evoulution?

question: What term is used to describe how prey evades a predator?

question: What is the first stage called when prey notices a predator?

question: What charactheristics help divide prey into four groups?
context: The act of predation can be broken down into a maximum of four stages: Detection of prey, attack, capture and finally consumption. The relationship between predator and prey is one that is typically beneficial to the predator, and detrimental to the prey species. Sometimes, however, predation has indirect benefits to the prey species, though the individuals preyed upon themselves do not benefit. This means that, at each applicable stage, predator and prey species are in an evolutionary arms race to maximize their respective abilities to obtain food or avoid being eaten. This interaction has resulted in a vast array of adaptations in both groups.

qas: question: Which adaptation helps both predators and prey?
answers: text: camouflage

question: What term is used for an adaptation that enables species to blend into the background?
answers: text: camouflage

question: Camoflauge consists of what else, in addition to color?
answers: text: shape and pattern

question: Ogranisms use camoflauge to blend with their habitat and what else?
answers: text: other organisms

question: What characteristic helps only prey not be seen?

question: What else can be used to describe dead leaves besides their color?

question: What is it a form of when lions can see a single zebra?

question: What does a praying mantis use to build its home?

question: What method does a praying mantis use when hunting?
context: One adaptation helping both predators and prey avoid detection is camouflage, a form of crypsis where species have an appearance that helps them blend into the background. Camouflage consists of not only color but also shape and pattern. The background upon which the organism is seen can be both its environment (e.g., the praying mantis to the right resembling dead leaves) or other organisms (e.g., zebras' stripes blend in with each other in a herd, making it difficult for lions to focus on a single target). The more convincing camouflage is, the more likely it is that the organism will go unseen.

qas: question: What is the phenomenon where an organism looks like another species called?
answers: text: Mimicry

question: Which organism looks like a bee but cannot sting?
answers: text: drone fly

question: A moth that has markings resembling an owl's eyes is an example of what phenomenon?
answers: text: Mimicry

question: What is a defensive way that mimicry can be used?
answers: text: startling the predator and giving it time to escape

question: How can predators use mimicry?
answers: text: to lure their prey

question: What does a female firefly look like, but isn't able to sting?

question: What do drone flies copy to attract male fireflies?

question: What happens when drone flies attract male fireflies?

question: What do the markings on female fireflies resemble?

question: Why does a female firefly use the markings on its wings?
context: Mimicry is a related phenomenon where an organism has a similar appearance to another species. One such example is the drone fly, which looks a lot like a bee, yet is completely harmless as it cannot sting at all. Another example of batesian mimicry is the io moth, (Automeris io), which has markings on its wings that resemble an owl's eyes. When an insectivorous predator disturbs the moth, it reveals its hind wings, temporarily startling the predator and giving it time to escape. Predators may also use mimicry to lure their prey, however. Female fireflies of the genus Photuris, for example, copy the light signals of other species, thereby attracting male fireflies, which are then captured and eaten (see aggressive mimicry).

qas: question: What makes predation successful?
answers: text: gain of energy

question: Treating the hunt as a cost-benefit scenario is referred to a what?
answers: text: optimal foraging theory

question: In optimal foraging theory, how are costs and benefits measured?
answers: text: energy gain per unit time

question: What benefit do small fish gain when they successfully avoid a predator?

question: What theory describes how prey fish take advantage of a predator?

question: How is the behavior of prey fish around an uninterested predator measured?

question: What cost is involved in evading a predator?

question: How well do small fish eat when they are in an aquarium?
context: While successful predation results in a gain of energy, hunting invariably involves energetic costs as well. When hunger is not an issue, in general most predators will not seek to attack prey since the costs outweigh the benefits. For instance, a large predatory fish like a shark that is well fed in an aquarium will typically ignore the smaller fish swimming around it (while the prey fish take advantage of the fact that the apex predator is apparently uninterested). Surplus killing represents a deviation from this type of behaviour. The treatment of consumption in terms of cost-benefit analysis is known as optimal foraging theory, and has been quite successful in the study of animal behavior. In general, costs and benefits are considered in energy gain per unit time, though other factors are also important, such as essential nutrients that have no caloric value but are necessary for survival and health.

qas: question: What hunting style allows chimpanzees to prey upon colobus monkeys?
answers: text: Social predation

question: What is an example of co-coperation between predators of different species?
answers: text: humans with the aid of falcons or dogs, or fishing with cormorants

question: What is a species that does not perform social predation?
answers: text: domestic cats)

question: What are some species that use social predation to prey on animals much larger than themselves?
answers: text: Lions, hyenas, wolves, dholes, African wild dogs, and piranhas

question: What method does a rabbit use to evade a group of predators?

question: Who aids a rabbit to escape a predator through cooperation?

question: What do some fish use to kill larger creatures?

question: What method allows herbivores to attack a group of predators?

question: What did Harris realize that happens between humans and chimpanzees so they can work together?
context: Social predation offers the possibility of predators to kill creatures larger than those that members of the species could overpower singly. Lions, hyenas, wolves, dholes, African wild dogs, and piranhas can kill large herbivores that single animals of the same species usually don't dispatch. Social predation allows some animals to organize hunts of creatures that would easily escape a single predator; thus chimpanzees can prey upon colobus monkeys, and Harris's hawks can cut off all possible escapes for a doomed rabbit. Extreme specialization of roles is evident in some hunting that requires co-operation between predators of very different species: humans with the aid of falcons or dogs, or fishing with cormorants. Social predation is often very complex behavior, and not all social creatures (for example, domestic cats) perform it. Even without complex intelligence but instinct alone, some ant species can destroy much larger creatures.

qas: question: Well-fed animals in captivity can become friends with prey animals due to what motivation?
answers: text: mutual advantage or fear of reprisal from human masters

question: Why would cats and dogs potentially become companions in captivity?
answers: text: warmth, companionship, and even protection

question: Captive animals can distinguish co-inhabitats from what other group?
answers: text: wild ones outside the area

question: What kind of relationships to people have in rural areas?

question: Why is there less crime in rural areas?

question: How do residents feel about someone harming a person in a rural area?

question: What are two things neighbors depend on each other for in rural areas?

question: What can people from rural areas differentiate captive animals from?
context: It has been observed that well-fed predator animals in a lax captivity (for instance, pet or farm animals) will usually differentiate between putative prey animals who are familiar co-inhabitants in the same human area from wild ones outside the area. This interaction can range from peaceful coexistence to close companionship; motivation to ignore the predatory instinct may result from mutual advantage or fear of reprisal from human masters who have made clear that harming co-inhabitants will not be tolerated. Pet cats and pet mice, for example, may live together in the same human residence without incident as companions. Pet cats and pet dogs under human mastership often depend on each other for warmth, companionship, and even protection, particularly in rural areas.

qas: question: What are some predators of the electric eel?
answers: text: (anacondas, caimans, egrets, jaguars, mountain lions, giant otters, humans, dogs, and cats

question: What defense does a zebra have against predators?
answers: text: strong kick that can maim or kill

question: What defenses does a domestic cat have against predators?
answers: text: formidable teeth and claws

question: The electric eel uses electric shock for defense and what other purpose?
answers: text: to kill prey

question: What method is used by giant otters to prevent their prey from attacking them?

question: What are a few predators of giant otters?

question: What status does a giant otter keep among other predators?

question: What does a caiman use to defend itself agains a predator?

question: What is the favorite food of an electric eel?
context: Predatory animals often use their usual methods of attacking prey to inflict or to threaten grievous injury to their own predators. The electric eel uses the same electric current to kill prey and to defend itself against animals (anacondas, caimans, egrets, jaguars, mountain lions, giant otters, humans, dogs, and cats) that ordinarily prey upon fish similar to an electric eel in size; the electric eel thus remains an apex predator in a predator-rich environment. A predator small enough to be prey for others, the domestic cat uses its formidable teeth and claws as weapons against animals that might confuse a cat with easier prey. Many non-predatory prey animals, such as a zebra, can give a strong kick that can maim or kill, while others charge with tusks or horns.

qas: question: Is a species always the antagonist in a mobbing attack, or can it play roles on both sides?
answers: text: species can be on both ends of a mobbing attack

question: Which bird is an example of being both a predator and defender in mobbing attacks?
answers: text: Crows

question: Will birds often mob animals that do not pose a threat?
answers: text: On occasion

question: Crows will cooperate with small birds to drive away what predators?
answers: text: hawks or larger mammalian predators

question: What is an activity usually done by mammalian predators?

question: What will larger predators do when they see mobbing taking place?

question: What is one thing hawks do when they see mobbing?

question: What are hawks often mobbed by when they try to eat their eggs?

question: What do hawks do when they want to drive away crows?
context: Mobbing can be an interspecies activity: it is common for birds to respond to mobbing calls of a different species. Many birds will show up at the sight of mobbing and watch and call, but not participate. It should also be noted that some species can be on both ends of a mobbing attack. Crows are frequently mobbed by smaller songbirds as they prey on eggs and young from these birds' nests, but these same crows will cooperate with smaller birds to drive away hawks or larger mammalian predators. On occasion, birds will mob animals that pose no threat.

qas: question: What scientific term is used to describe  organisms that are brightly colored as a warning to predators?
answers: text: Aposematism

question: Does aposematism benefit only the organism ddirectly, or the entire population as a whole?
answers: text: species as a whole

question: How does aposematism help a species population?
answers: text: Upon being harmed (e.g., stung) by their prey, the appearance in such an organism will be remembered as something to avoid

question: What visual cues are characteristic of aposematism?
answers: text: bright, easily recognizable and unique colors and patterns

question: What term means how predators avoid a dangerous prey?

question: What do predators use to warn their prey?

question: What benefit does camoflage give the Variable Checkerspot butterfly?

question: What group benefits from using camoflage if an organism is killed using it?

question: How does a predator see a species using camflage as?
context: Aposematism, where organisms are brightly colored as a warning to predators, is the antithesis of camouflage. Some organisms pose a threat to their predators—for example they may be poisonous, or able to harm them physically. Aposematic coloring involves bright, easily recognizable and unique colors and patterns. For example, bright coloration in Variable Checkerspot butterflies leads to decreased predation attempts by avian predators. Upon being harmed (e.g., stung) by their prey, the appearance in such an organism will be remembered as something to avoid. While that particular prey organism may be killed, the coloring benefits the prey species as a whole.

qas: question: What do predators depend on for survival?
answers: text: prey

question: Prey that is eaten is simply replaced by anohter when the population is close to what?
answers: text: carrying capacity

question: Predators lower what aspects of their prey?
answers: text: survival and fecundity

question: What does one predator species do for another if its reaching carrying capacity?

question: What is reduced in a predator species if it reaches carrying capacity?

question: What do different species of predators do when they encounter each other?

question: What do different predators sometimes need each other for?

question: What helps more than one group of predators interact?
context: It is fairly clear that predators tend to lower the survival and fecundity of their prey, but on a higher level of organization, populations of predator and prey species also interact. It is obvious that predators depend on prey for survival, and this is reflected in predator populations being affected by changes in prey populations. It is not so obvious, however, that predators affect prey populations. Eating a prey organism may simply make room for another if the prey population is approaching its carrying capacity.

qas: question: What physical disadvantages do humans have against other apex predators?
answers: text: speed, bone density, weight, and physical strength

question: For how long have humans been using stone tools and weapons?
answers: text: well over a million years

question: What are humans' primary competitors?
answers: text: other humans

question: What is one known istance of cannibalism?
answers: text: the Donner party

question: With what species do humans hunt in partnership?
answers: text: domestic dog

question: In what areas do bears have an advantage compared to big cats?

question: What is one thing bears use to find their prey?

question: How are bears socially instead of being solitary?

question: How long have bears existed?

question: How long have bears been apex predators?
context: A lone naked human is at a physical disadvantage to other comparable apex predators in areas such as speed, bone density, weight, and physical strength. Humans also lack innate weaponry such as claws. Without crafted weapons, society, or cleverness, a lone human can easily be defeated by fit predatory animals, such as wild dogs, big cats and bears (see Man-eater). However, humans are not solitary creatures; they are social animals with highly developed social behaviors. Early humans, such as Homo erectus, have been using stone tools and weapons for well over a million years. Anatomically modern humans have been apex predators since they first evolved, and many species of carnivorous megafauna actively avoid interacting with humans; the primary environmental competitor for a human is other humans. The one subspecies of carnivorous megafauna that does interact frequently with humans in predatory roles is the domestic dog, but usually as a partner in predation especially if they hunt together. Cannibalism has occurred in various places, among various cultures, and for various reasons. At least a few people, such as the Donner party, are said to have resorted to it in desperation.

qas: question: What two apex predators do not have a small population size?
answers: text: humans and dogs

question: Do apex predators generally have a large or small population?
answers: text: small

question: Which principle states that if two species ecologicl niches/ overlap, both species are likely to be in competition with one another?
answers: text: competitive exclusion principle

question: What other factor is relevant to the competitive exclusion principle?
answers: text: prey abundance

question: What are two situations apex predators always live with in the wild?

question: What kind of population do prey populations usually have?

question: When two species have a small population, what is likely to happen between them?

question: What principle states that when two prey species have small populations they will compete with each other?

question: What is one thing that humans and dogs have that applies to other apex predators?
context: Having small population size is a characteristic almost universally inherent to apex predators, humans and dogs by far the most blatant exceptions. Low numbers wouldn't be a problem for apex predators if there was an abundance of prey and no competition or niche overlap, a scenario that is rarely, if ever, encountered in the wild. The competitive exclusion principle states that if two species' ecological niches overlap, there is a very high likelihood of competition as both species are in direct competition for the same resources. This factor alone could lead to the extirpation of one or both species, but is compounded by the added factor of prey abundance.

qas: question: When a predator hunts too much of its prey, causing both populations to dissappear, the phenomenon is called what?
answers: text: coextinction

question: Are predator's effects on prey easiest to see in the short-term or long-term?
answers: text: longer period of time

question: The rise and fall of predator and prey populations are similar to what, in the US economy?
answers: text: boom and bust cycle of economics

question: When are the effects of economics hard to see?

question: What is the cycle of complete extinction similar to?

question: What risk to conservationists encounter when they cause the predator population to dip?

question: What happens if wildlife conservationists limit prey populations?

question: What does introducing a new prey species guarantee for the weaker predators?
context: A predator's effect on its prey species is hard to see in the short-term. However, if observed over a longer period of time, it is seen that the population of a predator will correlationally rise and fall with the population of its prey in a cycle similar to the boom and bust cycle of economics. If a predator overhunts its prey, the prey population will lower to numbers that are too scarce for the predators to find. This will cause the predator population to dip, decreasing the predation pressure on the prey population. The decrease in predators will allow the small number of prey left to slowly increase their population to somewhere around their previous abundance, which will allow the predator population to increase in response to the greater availability of resources. If a predator hunts its prey species to numbers too low to sustain the population in the short term, they can cause not only the extinction or extirpation of the prey but also the extinction of their own species, a phenomenon known as coextinction. This is a risk that wildlife conservationists encounter when introducing predators to prey that have not coevolved with the same or similar predators. This possibility depends largely on how well and how fast the prey species is able to adapt to the introduced predator. One way that this risk can be avoided is if the predator finds an alternative prey species or if an alternative prey species is introduced (something that ecologists and environmentalists try to avoid whenever possible). An alternative prey species would help to lift some of the predation pressure from the initial prey species, giving the population a chance to recover, however it does not guarantee that the initial prey species will be able to recover as the initial prey population may have been hunted to below sustainable numbers or to complete extinction.

qas: question: How can natural predators benefit crops?
answers: text: reducing damage to crops, and are one alternative to the use of chemical agents such as pesticides

question: How are predators beneficial to agriculture?
answers: text: controlling pests

question: If removing an introduced species entirely isn't a posibility, what is the next best outcome?
answers: text: keeping its abundance down

question: Predators are used in conservation to reduce what type of species from the environment?
answers: text: introduced species

question: What is one way pesticides benefit crops?

question: What is one thing that can happen if you use pesticides?

question: What is the only thing that is possible when removing pests?

question: In what area are agricultural pests used for research?

question: What chemical agent is used to control introduced species?
context: Predators may be put to use in conservation efforts to control introduced species. Although the aim in this situation is to remove the introduced species entirely, keeping its abundance down is often the only possibility. Predators from its natural range may be introduced to control populations, though in some cases this has little effect, and may even cause unforeseen problems. Besides their use in conservation biology, predators are also important for controlling pests in agriculture. Natural predators are an environmentally friendly and sustainable way of reducing damage to crops, and are one alternative to the use of chemical agents such as pesticides.