Article
Biology
Alberto Bortoni, Sharon M. Swartz, Hamid Vejdani, Aaron J. Corcoran
Summary: A predator's ability to catch prey depends on its navigation skills in response to prey movements. The pursuit behavior of Townsend's big-eared bat varies, as it relies on a slow and agile flight to stealthily approach prey and reacts to prey movements using a combination of pure pursuit and proportional navigation.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biology
Ashley N. Peterson, Matthew J. McHenry
Summary: This study examines the strategy of red lionfish in pursuing faster prey. The behavior of successfully capturing prey is defined as the "persistent-predation strategy", which includes pure pursuit, uninterrupted motion, and high success rate in strike.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sandra Gordillo, Gisela A. Moran, Mariano E. Malve
Summary: The analysis of predation traces on shelled taxa is important in studying predator-prey interactions in ecosystems. Studies on predation traces on shelled taxa in Antarctica are scarce, with existing research mainly based on fossil remains. Research shows that predators exhibit site selectivity in predation traces on bivalves in West Antarctica.
Article
Ecology
Varpu Parssinen, Kaj Hulthen, Christer Bronmark, Caroline Bjorneras, Gustaf Ekelund Ugge, Raphael Gollnisch, Lars-Anders Hansson, Simon David Herzog, Nan Hu, Emma Johansson, Marcus Lee, Karin Rengefors, Yongcui Sha, Martin Skerlep, Jerker Vinterstare, Huan Zhang, R. Brian Langerhans, P. Anders Nilsson
Summary: Research shows that varying levels of predation risk can lead to differences in behaviors associated with resource competition in prey, but these effects can strongly differ between sexes.
Article
Mathematics
Renato Colucci, Erika Diz-Pita, M. Victoria Otero-Espinar
Summary: The study focuses on a population model with two preys and one predator, analyzing the stability of equilibria and the possibility of Hopf bifurcation. Additionally, the problem of persistence is discussed, with numerical simulations used to illustrate theoretical results.
Article
Ecology
Tahlia I. Pollock, Daniel O. Hunter, David P. Hocking, Alistair R. Evans
Summary: This study provides a detailed description of the hunting behaviors of wild dingoes in Namadgi National Park, Australia, captured through footage filmed from drones and helicopters. The footage includes the first video records of dingo hunting and killing macropod prey, as well as rare observations of mother and pup hunting dynamics. The study demonstrates the behavioral complexity of dingoes as top predators in the Australian landscape and highlights the value of using drones for directly observing wild animal behaviors.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Wonbin Lim, Changku Kang
Summary: This study examines the function and adaptive significance of jerking behavior in Cyclosa argenteoalba orb-weaving spiders. The results show that spiders jerk more as prey size increases and spider size decreases. Jerks reduce the likelihood of prey escaping and increase the number of spiral threads contacting the prey. The efficiency of jerks is lower in larger prey, potentially due to spiders' cautiousness and reduced jerk efficiency towards larger prey. These findings highlight the importance of jerking behavior in prey capture for orb-weaving spiders.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jolle Wolter Jolles, Matthew M. G. Sosna, Geoffrey P. F. Mazue, Colin R. Twomey, Joseph Bak-Coleman, Daniel Rubenstein, Iain D. Couzin
Summary: Predation is a main evolutionary driver of social grouping, and its detailed quantification remains challenging. In this study, high-resolution tracking of solitary predators hunting schooling fish sheds light on predator decision-making and identifies key features that predict individual risk and survival during attacks. The results reveal the importance of attackers approaching the largest groups stealthily and already being inside the school, making prey in the frontal 'strike zone' the most vulnerable to be targeted. From the prey's perspective, fish in central locations, but relatively far from and less aligned with their neighbors, are most likely to be targeted.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Shan Jiang, Yan Bai, Fan Sun, Le-Le Ge, Yi-Long Xi
Summary: In the presence of Asplanchna kairomone, the attached clone of B. dorcas exhibited a stronger attachment tendency, effectively protecting prey from predation pressure. The attached clone did not show morphological changes with increasing kairomone concentration, but had decreased reproductive rate and population growth rate. The free-swimming clone developed elongated spines, decreased population growth rate, and reduced proportion of sexual offspring, indicating reproductive costs in both clones.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sandra Gordillo, Mariano E. Malve
Summary: This study describes the discovery of drillholes on scaphopods in deep-sea environments of West Antarctica, providing the first reports of drilling predation on scaphopods in this region. The preyed shells with predation traces identified as Oichnus are interpreted as produced by naticids, possibly Pseudamauropsis aureolutea, marking the first records of Recent scaphopods from the Southern Hemisphere.
Review
Biology
Megan C. Edwards, Julia M. Hoy, Sean I. FitzGibbon, Peter J. Murray
Summary: The impact of introduced mammalian predators on Australian wildlife is significant, with native marsupials showing a lack of recognition and antipredator behaviors towards them. A new theory, the 'Relaxed Predation Theory', suggests that the absence of large predators in Australia has led to reduced predation pressure, affecting the responses of native mammals. Recommendations for conservation include predator avoidance training, exclusion fencing, captive breeding programs, and reintroduction of larger predators to compete with introduced threats. A deeper understanding of predator responses in Australian mammals is crucial for the conservation of vulnerable species.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Biology
Shotaro Shiratsuru, Emily K. Studd, Stan Boutin, Michael J. L. Peers, Yasmine N. Majchrzak, Allyson K. Menzies, Rachael Derbyshire, Thomas S. Jung, Charles J. Krebs, Rudy Boonstra, Dennis L. Murray
Summary: The study found that the activity patterns of snowshoe hares and Canada lynx are not necessarily related to predation risk, and lynx can still prey on hares during the daytime when hares are inactive. This suggests that the overlap of predator-prey activity may not always be a reliable proxy for predation risk, highlighting the need to examine the spatio-temporal behavior of predator and prey to improve our understanding of predation risk.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Altemir Bortuli Junior, Norberto Anibal Maidana
Summary: The model divides the prey population into susceptible and infected classes, with thresholds for disease spread and conditions for biological equilibrium points established through mathematical analysis. Numerical simulations are used to determine the biological characteristics of the model and illustrate the analytical results.
MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN THE APPLIED SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Microbiology
Kayleigh E. Phillips, Shukria Akbar, D. Cole Stevens
Summary: This review discusses various aspects of myxobacterial predation and provides current understanding and challenges regarding predatory performance.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Jeanne Clermont, Alexis Grenier-Potvin, Eliane Duchesne, Charline Couchoux, Frederic Dulude-de Broin, Andreanne Beardsell, Joel Bety, Dominique Berteaux
Summary: Predation shapes communities through consumptive and non-consumptive effects, with prey responding actively or reactively to perceived predation risk at different spatial and temporal scales. The study found that prey may employ diverse strategies in managing predation risk from a shared predator, further refining our understanding of species distribution and community structure.
