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Homework answers / question archive / For each of the terms, tell how each functions as an antipredatory adaption and give a non-human example (bastesian mimicry, misdirection, chemical repulsion, surprise, disruptive coloration, and removing telltale evidence)
For each of the terms, tell how each functions as an antipredatory adaption and give a non-human example (bastesian mimicry, misdirection, chemical repulsion, surprise, disruptive coloration, and removing telltale evidence).
Batesian mimicry
?Batesian mimicry is when a harmless species look like dangerous ones
?So, a predator that has encountered the dangerous one will think twice before initiating an encounter with an individual with similar visual traits.
?Batesian mimicry is found in venomous coral snakes and the harmless milk and king snakes of the New World. Both snakes are marked with alternating yellow, red, and black bands causing possible predators to avoid both. (however, your professor may want you to use an example discussed in the text or in class)
Misdirection
?Misdirection is an adaptation that focuses a predator's attention on a non-critical portion of the body
?Once the predator is distracted to the non-critical body part, the prey lashes out in some way.
?Some snakes use their blunt tails to mimic the head, holding up, coiling or even striking out with their tails. Pipesnake's tails are flattened to resemble cobra hoods. The real head is hidden within their coils, ready for a counterattack. (however, your professor may want you to use an example discussed in the text or in class)
Chemical repulsion
?The chemicals released by the prey result in a not so pleasant aroma that an attacker will never forget.
?The dart frog also uses chemicals (poisons secreted from its skin) to deter attackers. Any animals that eat these small frogs are likely to get very sick or die.
?A skunk is a well known example of an animal using a chemical spray to detur a predator. (however, your professor may want you to use an example discussed in the text or in class)
Surprise
?This seems to be much more of a predator tactic than a prey tactic.
?There was very little mention of this as a prey defense in any of the references I consulted. The only mentions I found were as follows
-- Surprise involves actions that are unpredictable, and therefore cause a predator to hesitate or lose track of the prey.
---- An example is the Blanch-Ink-Jet maneuver of an octopus: when a predator initiates an attack the prey will turn the opposite color from what it was before (from dark to light or vice versa) and then jets away leaving an ink blob in its place.
-- Surprise may also involve startling, bluffing, frightening, or threatening a predator.
---- An inexperienced predator may be deterred from attacking, and an experienced predator may be confused by these types of behavior.
---- It may serve the function of signaling to the predator that the prey has noticed it is being stalked.
---- In the octopus, this behavior is usually displayed with bold body patterns and postures that make the animal appear larger.
Disruptive coloration
?Disruptive coloration helps break up an animal's outline. Disruptive coloration is a way of confusing the eye. It breaks up the solid outline of an animal's body so that it is harder to see and recognize.
? Stripes and spots can be disruptive coloration. You'd think that the black and white stripes of the zebra would make it easy for predators to see it!
-- The main predator of the zebra is the lion. Lions don't like to hunt in the heat of the day, they prefer sleeping in the shade. They hunt as it gets dark. As the sun goes down, the black and white stripes of the zebra help it blend into the tall grass.
-- But the zebra's stripes have another purpose. Zebras live in herds. Lions like to pick out one member of the herd that looks weak. When the lion attacks, the zebras start running in all directions. With all those stripes mixing together, it is easy for the lion to lose the zebra it picked out of the herd.
?A Sumatran tiger has stripes that help it hide among the tall grasses and slender trees of Sumatra?so that it's hard to tell what is grass and what is tiger!
?A jaguar, on the other hand, hunts in the broken light and shade of low tree branches, among the leaves and branches. Instead of vertical stripes, it is covered in splotchy spots and patches (however, your professor may want you to use an example discussed in the text or in class)
Removing telltale evidence
?This term may be specific to your text/professor. It is not in common usage. The best I can tell, it involves hiding indications of vulnerable populations from predators.
--For example, parent gulls remove eggshells from the nest after young have hatched. Most likely, because predators would be attracted to the vulnerable young and the eggshells would be a telltale sign of new hatchlings.
----This has been tested by distributing a mix of gull eggs, some unmodified and some painted white. The results were unambiguous: although both kinds of eggs were found and eaten, the white ones were discovered more frequently.
----Next, researchers put out two sets of unmodified gull eggs, some alone and some accompanied by empty eggshells placed about four inches away. The eggs were covered with a few grass straws to help camouflage them, and those with the shells nearby were covered a little better than the lone eggs. Again, the results were clear: even though they were better camouflaged, eggs near shells were three times more likely than lone eggs to be found and eaten by gulls and crows.
---- http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Empty_Shells.html