Learning to kill The acquisition of hunting skills by predators

Abstract
The relationship between a predator and a prey is quite essential to the dynamics in the wild. Various classic approaches have been employed in the attempt to predict and comprehend the nature of the consumptive interaction between a predator and a prey (Schmitz, 2017). Using this approach has not yielded any sufficient insight on the context and complexity that is characteristic of the relationship between predators and preys. Schmitz (2017) recounts the approaches recently applied in the exploration of these relationships from the evolutionary ecological environment. The approaches entail the context through which both the prey and the predator adapt into their environment through their reciprocal interactions that entail functional traits expressions influenced by the biomechanics of the wild animals (Schmitz, 2017).
Functional characteristics can be defined as the behavioural, physiological or morphological traits espoused by organisms in relation to their biotic interactions (Schmitz, 2017). These characteristics may include the personality, body size, prey mobility, physiological stress of the prey, anti-predatory behaviour, and the hunting mobility of the predator (Schmitz, 2017). Evidential information suggests that the impact of the interaction between predators and preys is influenced by the magnitude of functional traits espoused by the wild animals. Furthermore the functional characteristics of the predator may be activated by the risk responses from the prey (Schmitz et al., 2015). The interactions between the prey and the predator may subsequently result to dynamic feedbacks likely to alter the interaction context between the predator and the prey (Ferriere & Legendre, 2013).
These dynamic feedbacks that redefine interactions between the prey and the predator are encompassed in the rapid evolutionary or the phenotypically plastic responses (Yampolsky, Schaer & Ebert, 2013). Studying the interactions between predators and preys through the adaptive ecological evolutionary lens provides a basis upon which the magnitude and nature of interactions between preys and predators can be explained (Allen, Nowak & Dieckmann, 2013). This discourse investigates the acquisition of functional characteristics by predators that make it possible for them hunt their prey successfully. The paper will discuss what a predators is, balance of nature, predators role in the ecosystem, hunting strategies, and adaptive behaviours.
Introduction
Hunting Adaptations by a Predator
The relationship between the predator and the prey is fundamental to the sustenance of healthy ecosystems (Walsh et al., 2016). The predatory skills coupled with the prey defence strategies dictate the health of the ecosystem environment. Each of the two sides must adapt to the dynamic nature of the environment in order to support their survival. For instance, if a prey has the ability to move then the predator must adapt faster movement technics. Animals that fail to adapt will get eaten or starve to death. According to Walsh et al. (2016), the diversity of wild animal traits does not explain the general routine trends. This is because diversity does not consider the trait expression diversity as organisms respond adaptively to various contexts of the environment such as changes in consumer pressure and resource quality.
Predators
Predators can be defined as the wild animals that prey or hunt other animals. Every living thing needs food to survive. Predators depend on flesh from other animals in order to survive (Idaho Public Television, 2018). They have to adapt killer instincts for this purpose. Wolves, lions, hawks, bears, tigers etc. are types of wild animals. Predators are carnivorous. This means that their food is meat. Other predators like bears and coyotes are categorized as scavengers. Scavengers eat carcasses from animals they never hunted (Gravel et al., 2016). Preys are the animals that are hunted and eaten by predators. Some animals of prey include the herbivores and the omnivores.
According to Toscano and Griffen (2014) the functional response of predators is inherent to the comprehension of the population dynamics of predators. The behavior response depends on rate at which predators attach their prey and the time they take in eating them. Predators have different shapes and sizes. The sizes are genetically engineered for the purpose of adaptation. Steiner and Masse (2013) suggested that heterogeneity among prey animals is an essential stabilizer to the interaction between preys and predators. Heterogeneity is the factor that helps in minimizing the oscillation of wildlife populations and helps enhance the population level of prey animals. Predators form an essential food chain component. The food chain provides a medium through which energy is transferred from an organism to another. Plants form the first connection in food chain process and they use the sun for photosynthesis (making food). Plants are referred to as producers in the food chain. Plants depend on nutrition and the biodiversity of underground organisms (Bardgett & Van Der Putten, 2014). In order for the ecosystem to remain in balance as suggested by Toscano and Griffen (2014) the process of energy transfer from the producers to the predators has to be systematic.
Balance of Nature
Prey and predator relationship can be explained by the balance of nature concept (Simberloff, 2014). Natural ecosystems have some level of balance. Animal and plant numbers in any ecosystem will often tend to approach a certain limit within which balance is maintained. Animal populations are not only influenced by predatory behaviours of the wild animals. Factors such as competition, availability of food, weather patterns and disease influence species abundance (Bardgett and Van Der Putten, 2014). Predators in any ecosystem will control prey species populations. This characteristic is essential in ensuring that prey species do not overgrow in numbers. For this reason the habitat will remain in balance and the threat of destruction will be minimised. This concept is not elaborate enough to demystify the exact encounters in nature. Prey and predator population will never be constant. Many factors influence population dynamics in the wild. The eco-evolutionary and adaptive rescue theory proposed by Ferriere and Legendre (2013) may be essential in explaining the balance of nature.
Predator Adaptation
The strategies used by predators in hunting, catching and killing their prey for food are determined various factors like the nature of the habitat and the predator adaptations. Some of the adaptive strategies useful in helping predators kill their prey include the following.
Physical Adaptation
Over and above the hunting strategies predators can adapt to a hunting life through the development of several physical characteristics that help them capture and devour their prey. Some of these physical characteristics include:
· The claws and the teeth: Predators have sharp and long teeth and claws that are specialised for the purpose of cutting, shearing and tearing flesh. The claws and the teeth make sure that predator is able to catch and kill and later eat the prey animal. Predatory birds like the hawk, falcon and eagles use their long claws that are curved for efficiency. These claws are known as talons. The talons make it possible for the birds to grasp and pounce on their prey easily. They can catch a rabbit and slippery fish with ease. The long and curved beaks are also strong and sharp making it possible for them to rip their prey apart. Cats have unique claws in that they can retract them easily. They are able to move with pin drop silence and swiftly pounce onto their prey using the paws and claws. Their claws are also very sharp (Heynen, Bunnefeld & Borcherding, 2017).
Image I
· Bone and meat: The jaws of predators are biologically designed to move downwards and upwards rather than the conventional side movement like the prey animals (Heynen, Bunnefeld & Borcherding, 2017). This makes it possible to them to penetrate and cut through the flesh of their prey.
· Jaws: Predatory animals will often have jaws that are quite strong. This makes it possible for them to grasp onto the prey and crush through their flesh and bone (Heynen, Bunnefeld & Borcherding, 2017). Wild cats are especially effective in using their jaws to entangle and strangle their prey to death by grasping onto the prey’s windpipe and blood vessels on the neck. The jaws of a snake are adapted to be able to swallow food when it is whole. The jaws are not attached from their rear. This allows them to drop down and create room for them to hold large sized meals. There are snakes that can even swallow preys that are thrice as big as they are themselves.
Image 2
· Special features: Most predatory animals will have body parts that have specialised functionalities making it possible for them to grasp and devour their prey. Frogs, for instance, have a long tongue which aids in catching insects. Herons have sharp and long beaks that enable them to spike fish. Otters on the hand have special oils and webbed feet which makes it possible for them to swim in tense waters and catch their prey. The V shape of cheetahs helps them to run fast and overcome wind resistance. This way it is possible for them to race a fast gazelle and catch up with it. These adaptive characteristics improve the chances of the predators to conquer the prey and survive the wild (Hirsch, Cayon, & Svanbäck, 2014).
· Strength: Most predators are quite strong. This characteristic makes it possible for them to devour animals which might even be multiple times bigger than themselves. Cougars, for instance, are quite masculine and this trait allows them to take down a deer. Their shrew may look small although it is strong and aggressive enough. They can launch an attack and dismantle preys which are bigger.
· Intelligence: Predators biological characteristics entail their big brain than their prey animals (Roth, 2015). This makes them more intelligent hence their ability outsmart their prey. Ravens and crows are considered some of the very intelligent birds of prey. These predators have a language and an ability to communicate efficiently with each other (Roth, 2015). They are even able to imitate sounds like meow, whistles and noises made by machines. Fishers are also quite intelligent. They can device cunning ways of capturing and devouring porcupines. Their quick reflexes help them flip over the porcupine within a split second without getting spiked by their quills. The fisher then bites the stomach of the porcupine and accesses the unprotected fresh hence killing off the porcupine (Roth, 2015).
Stalking
Predators like the lion can lie low in static and motionless for long hours stalking their potential prey and laying down a strategy. During the motionless state the predator is able to control its heart rate and other biological impulses in preparation to launch an attack. Stalking predators have the ability to identify the weakest link in their potential prey and therefore increase their chances of successfully launching an attack.
Image 3
Ambush: Alligators and crocodiles lie still and patiently wait for their prey to come closer. This method does not require much effort although their chances of getting prey are lower. Crocodiles can stay for long without eating due to their low energy requirements. Ambush hunting is only effective with smaller preys because the predator has to avoid being detected by all means until the time to strike comes.
Chasing: Cheetahs, lions, hawks, leopards and other predators often catch prey through the chase. This tactic takes a lot of effort and time. In order to launch a successful chase the predator must focus their attention of the prey that will be offer enough food and compensate for the amount of energy spent in the chase. Hawks will prefer eating birds and rodents because they don’t require a lot of effort as a chasing a grasshopper would. For them chasing a grasshopper is not worth the effort.
Teamwork: Lions, coyotes, wolves, killer whales and hyenas often hunt in teams (Benoit-Bird et al., 2013). This way they are able to pursue faster and larger preys and also protect their young ones from predation.
Vision: This is a very fundamental predatory characteristic (Penteriani & Delgado, 2017). Predators have their eyes situated on the front part of their heads. This enables them to enjoy the binocular like vision. With enhanced vision the predator is able to accurately evaluate the distance between it and the prey and the speed with which the prey is travelling. Predatory birds have a vision similar to that of a telescope. Their sight is multiple times stronger than that of humans. Night hunters like lions have specialised eye structures that look like mirrors. The features help the predator to see during the night. Insects have tiny eyes and small brains but their strong colour perception makes it possible for them to land, control and take flight seamlessly (Warrant, 2017). It is very hard to smash a butterfly due to its excellent reflexes and strong colour perception.
Hearing: Very many predators have a strong sense of hearing (Carr & Christensen-Dalsgaard, 2015). Some of them can swivel their ears to focus on a given direction. The strange shape helps them capture echoes. Owls are considered as having very advanced hearing abilities than any other animal (Carr & Christensen-Dalsgaard, 2015). They have offset ears which makes one ear to be slightly higher than next one. Some animal can capture vibrations using their bodies. This way they can accurately determine the source of that sound.
Smell: There are predators that can smell a prey from many miles away. Foxes can smell buried prey. Some only need to follow the tracks of their prey. Sharks have superior sense of smell although theirs work a little different (Benoit-Bird et al., 2013). They do not use their nostrils for the purpose of breathing but for sensing smell. Through water movements the shark can recognise different smells from as far as 2 miles (Benoit-Bird et al., 2013). Brain and genomic expansion make the sense of smell among ants to be quite elaborate and advanced (d’Ettorre, 2016). They can avoid potential danger and locate food from far distances.
Camouflage: Some of the unique predatory characteristics are considered adaptations. The camouflage adaptation characteristic is employed both by the prey and the predator. Nature has afforded various animals the ability to conceal their presence. Preys and predators can camouflage. Colour camouflage is one of the ways animals conceal themselves (Troscianko, Skelhorn & Stevens, 2017). This is the reason why jungle animals have green fur while desert animals have brown colour. Counter shading is another type of camouflage. Counter shaded animals are dark on the body tops and lighter on bottom side. The animals look flat and one-coloured when viewed from a far distance. Disruptive coloration is another camouflage (Troscianko, Skelhorn & Stevens, 2017). These are strong contrasts with uneven marks like stripes and spots. Zebras are this way. They help to conceal them when grazing near bushes and trees. Tigers also have disruptive coloration to help them conceal themselves during hunting. Some animals will change their colour depending on the season. This makes it possible for them to perfectly fit in their environment depending on the new changes (Marshall, Philpot & Stevens, 2016). Mimicry and imitation can also be used to camouflage. Some animals will appear as though they belong to a different species than their own depending on their environment. A grasshopper can look like a leaf that is dry. Bright colours can be used as self-defence tactics. The bright colour is often poisonous. It may also have a taste or smell that is quite unpleasant.
Comparing Predators and Preys
Predator
Prey
Forward facing eyes
Sideways facing eyes
Binocular vision
Peripheral vision
Narrow vision
Wide view vision
Sharp tearing teeth
Grinding teeth
Jaws that move upwards and downwards
Jaws that move in sideway motions
Larger brain
Smaller brain
Conclusions
This this research it can be deduced that predators espouse adaptive traits to help them pursue, capture and devour their prey. Various adaptive behaviours and traits can be passed from the parents to the offspring. Predators like eagles, lions and cheetahs will actually teach their young ones hunting skills when they are still young. The application of dynamic feedbacks as suggested by Ferriere and Legendre (2013) makes it possible for both the prey and the predator to acquire new strategies to dominate and capture their prey. Predators will in fact change their strategies depending on the nature of their new environment. Hunger and the urge to evade starvation will drive predatory animals to employ new intelligent strategies to capture their prey.




References
Allen, B., Nowak, M. A., & Dieckmann, U. (2013). Adaptive Dynamics with Interaction Structure. The American Naturalist, 181(6), E139–E163. https://doi.org/10.1086/670192
Bardgett, R. D., & Van Der Putten, W. H. (2014). Belowground biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Nature. Nature Publishing Group. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13855
Benoit-Bird, K. J., Battaile, B. C., Heppell, S. A., Hoover, B., Irons, D., Jones, N., … Trites, A. W. (2013). Prey Patch Patterns Predict Habitat Use by Top Marine Predators with Diverse Foraging Strategies. PLoS ONE, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053348
Carr, C. E., & Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. (2015). Sound localization strategies in three predators. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 86, 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1159/000435946
d’Ettorre, P. (2016). Genomic and brain expansion provide ants with refined sense of smell. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(49), 13947–13949. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1617405113
Ferriere, R., & Legendre, S. (2013). Eco-evolutionary feedbacks, adaptive dynamics and evolutionary rescue theory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Royal Society. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0081
Gravel, D., Albouy, C., & Thuiller, W. (2016). The meaning of functional trait composition of food webs for ecosystem functioning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Royal Society of London. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0268
Heynen, M., Bunnefeld, N., & Borcherding, J. (2017). Facing different predators: Adaptiveness of behavioral and morphological traits under predation. Current Zoology, 63(3), 249–257. https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zow056
Hirsch, P. E., Cayon, D., & Svanbäck, R. (2014). Plastic responses of a sessile prey to multiple predators: A field and experimental study. PLoS ONE, 9(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115192
Idaho Public Television (2018). Predators: Facts. Retrieved 10 November, 2018 from http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/predators/facts.cfm
Marshall, K. L. A., Philpot, K. E., & Stevens, M. (2016). Microhabitat choice in island lizards enhances camouflage against avian predators. Scientific Reports, 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep19815
Penteriani, V., & Delgado, M. del M. (2017). Living in the dark does not mean a blind life: Bird and mammal visual communication in dim light. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Royal Society. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0064
Roth, G. (2015). Convergent evolution of complex brains and high intelligence. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Royal Society of London. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0049
Schmitz, O. (2017). Predator and prey functional traits: understanding the adaptive machinery driving predator–prey interactions. F1000Research, 6, 1767. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.11813.1
Schmitz, O. J., Buchkowski, R. W., Burghardt, K. T., & Donihue, C. M. (2015). Functional Traits and Trait-Mediated Interactions. Connecting Community-Level Interactions with Ecosystem Functioning. Advances in Ecological Research, 52, 319–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aecr.2015.01.003
Steiner, C. F., & Masse, J. (2013). The stabilizing effects of genetic diversity on predator-prey dynamics. F1000Research. https://doi.org/10.3410/f1000research.2-43.v1
Simberloff, D. (2014). The “Balance of Nature”—Evolution of a Panchreston. PLoS Biology, 12(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001963
Toscano, B. J., & Griffen, B. D. (2014). Trait-mediated functional responses: Predator behavioural type mediates prey consumption. Journal of Animal Ecology, 83(6), 1469– 1477. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12236
Troscianko, J., Skelhorn, J., & Stevens, M. (2017). Quantifying camouflage: how to predict detectability from appearance. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 17(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-016-0854-2
Walsh, M. R., Castoe, T., Holmes, J., Packer, M., Biles, K., Walsh, M., … Post, D. M. (2016). Local adaptation in transgenerational responses to predators. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283(1823). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2271
Warrant, E. J. (2017). The remarkable visual capacities of nocturnal insects: Vision at the limits with small eyes and tiny brains. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Royal Society. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0063
Yampolsky, L. Y., Schaer, T. M. M., & Ebert, D. (2013). Adaptive phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation for temperature tolerance in freshwater zooplankton. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1776). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2744

Appendix
Image Sources
Image 1
https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/videos/animal-armoury/teeth-and-claws-4467.aspx
Image 2
https://www.wallpaperup.com/1009575/predator_jaws_head_cat_leopard_wild_snow_leopard_art.html
Image 3
http://graciegoldsboro.com/the-purpose-self-defense-training/predator-stalking/