ANTI-PREDATOR BEHAVIOR

PSYCH 118
Tuesday, May 14, 13

May 13, 2013

ANTI-PREDATOR BEHAVIOR

1. Avoid being detected by predators 2. What to do once a predator is encountered 3. More...

Tuesday, May 14, 13

AVOIDING PREDATORS

Blending Keeping

in to the environment quiet a safe place

Choosing

Tuesday, May 14, 13

BLENDING IN
Crypsis: hiding

camouage

through

Most

iconic cases are not behavioral can increase crypsis through behavior...

Animals

Tuesday, May 14, 13

BLENDING IN
Hanlon

et al (2007) cuttlesh

Giant Australian

(Sepia apama)

86%

were camouaged, even at night behaviorally through control of chromatophores

Controlled

Tuesday, May 14, 13

BLENDING IN

Uniform

patterns (A): very rare, around rocks (B): ~50%, blending to background

Mottled camouage Disruptive

patterns (C): doesnt look like a cuttlesh...

Tuesday, May 14, 13

BEING QUIET
Remage-Healey Gulf

et al. (2006)

toadsh (Opsanus beta)

Dolphins

eavesdrop on theboatwhistle sound of breeding males to prey on them

Tuesday, May 14, 13

BEING QUIET
Tuesday, May 14, 13

BEING QUIET
After

exposing male toadsh to the either shrimp or dolphin popping, they took a blood sample... exposed to dolphin popping gave fewer boatwhistle calls, but also had higher cortisol stress, or cortisol, may be the mechanism by which the boatwhistle call is reduced

Males

So

Tuesday, May 14, 13

CHOOSING A SAFE PLACE

Brightsmith et al. 2005 Parrot species may either nest in trees or in other types of cavities (e.g., cliffs, termite mounds, etc) Conducted phylogenetic analysis, found that tree nesting was ancestral So why does nesting in other cavities evolve in parrots?

Tuesday, May 14, 13

CHOOSING A SAFE PLACE

Two hypotheses: 1. Competition for tree cavities is intense 2. Other cavities may decrease predation pressure on nestlings

Tuesday, May 14, 13

CHOOSING A SAFE PLACE

In past studies, release from competition always lead to an increase in clutch size No evidence of increased clutch size in othercavity nesting species In past studies, there was an inverse correlation between nest predation rate and length of nesting period Longer nesting periods are found in parrots that nest in other cavities Supports hypothesis that parrots nesting in other cavities are doing so to avoid predation

Tuesday, May 14, 13

ENCOUNTERING PREDATORS
Tuesday, May 14, 13

ENCOUNTERING PREDATORS
Alarm

calling (see Chapter 8)

Fleeing Approaching Feigning Signaling

to obtain more information

death to the predator the predator

Attacking
Tuesday, May 14, 13

FLEEING
http://youtu.be/HNbqvqf3-14
Stankowich Flight

& Blumstein (2005)

initiation distance: how close a predator can get before a prey animal ees that FID was mediated by a number of factors...

Found

Tuesday, May 14, 13

FLEEING
Stankowich & Blumstein (2005)
Tuesday, May 14, 13

EVEN EMBRYOS CAN FLEE...

Warkentin

(2000) and redeyed treefrogs (Agylychnis callidryas) hatch more quickly when exposed to wasp predation

Eggs

Tuesday, May 14, 13

EVEN EMBRYOS CAN FLEE...

Eggs

also hatched more quickly - immediately - when exposed to snake predation... are the cue!

Vibrations
Tuesday, May 14, 13

APPROACHING PREDATORS
http://www.arkive.org/toque-macaque/macaca-sinica/ video-11a.html
Often Been

(but not solely) done by healthy adults

called: approach behavior, boldness, investigative behavior, predator inspection approach in tentative manner, with momentary pauses, sometimes with a mix of approach and leave

Prey

Tuesday, May 14, 13

APPROACHING PREDATORS

Fitgibbon (1994) Thompsons gazelle Approach lions and cheetahs (which rely on surprise and ambush tactics) Cheetahs responded by going further away Approach is a function of group size

Tuesday, May 14, 13

APPROACHING PREDATORS
Tuesday, May 14, 13

FEIGNING DEATH

In

response to a predator, a prey animal falls down and remains frozen called tonic immobility

Also

Tuesday, May 14, 13

FEIGNING DEATH
Ohno

& Miyatake (2007)

Adzuki

bean beetle (Callosobruchus chinensis) either y away or feign death iers will feign death more often, and vice versa

Can

Hypothesis: poor

Tuesday, May 14, 13

FEIGNING DEATH

Measured how long each individual would feign death Dropped beetle through a hole and recorded how far from center they ew Two articial selection experiments:

8 generations of articial selection for either longest or shortest feigners 8 generations of articial selection for either best or worst iers

Tuesday, May 14, 13

FEIGNING DEATH
Tuesday, May 14, 13

SIGNALING TO PREDATORS

Signs

from prey showing the probability or consequences of capture visual, but can also be auditory

Often

Tuesday, May 14, 13

SIGNALING TO PREDATORS

Tail-agging in ungulates This could:

Warn conspecics Tighten group cohesion Signal to predator that it has been spotted Entice the predator to attack before its ready Cause other groupmates to engage in other antipredator behaviors

Tuesday, May 14, 13

SIGNALING TO PREDATORS

Caro et al. (2004) work supports pursuit deterrence for tail agging

No time cost No evidence it is aimed at conspecics in context of cohesion Fast-running automatically causes tail agging, and so is a cue to predators that I run fast so dont bother

Snorting is a similar deterrent (indicates vigor and health)

Tuesday, May 14, 13

FIGHTING BACK
http://youtu.be/y6Kd1kg57S4 Prey

have many ways of ghting back against predators

Chemical arsenals Mobbing behavior

Tuesday, May 14, 13

FIGHTING BACK: CHEMICALS

Eisner et al. Bombardier beetles (Stenaptinus insignis) Produce hydroquanines and hydrogen peroxide by glands in two separate reservoirs When threatened, reservoirs drain into a mixing chamber with catalases and peroxidases Propels resultant acid at high speed (and 100 C), direct towards front or back depending on predator location

Tuesday, May 14, 13

FIGHTING BACK: CHEMICALS

How could this evolve? Phylogenetic analysis... Most ancient lineage (Metrius contractus) has same glands, but doesnt propel Froths over rear, or is drained along wings to the front (and only at 55C) So chemical defense is ancient, but the spray and heat are recently derived

Tuesday, May 14, 13

FIGHTING BACK: MOBBING

Curio et al. (1978) Blackbirds (Turdus merula) Is mobbing a form of cultural transmission? Experiment: exposed naive blackbirds to two conditions:

Friarbird with a known predator (owl) and a mobbing model Friarbird with no apparent predator (owl out of sight) and a mobbing model

THEN, exposed another naive bird to the rst one (now entrained to the model) to see if they would learn the same... Transmission chain: 6 birds long!

Tuesday, May 14, 13

PREDATOR SENSITIVE FORAGING

There is often a trade-off between safety and foraging Lima & Valone (1986) squirrels and predator sensitive foraging Large foods, and small (but more protable, optimal) foods Placed either close (8m) or far (16m) from safe cover What happened?

Tuesday, May 14, 13

NEXT TIME...

EXAM 2
Tuesday, May 14, 13