Name: predator and prey evolution
Uploaded: 2026-06-01T06:28:11.043Z
Duration: 2 min 39 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

north-carolina-k-12-science-standard-course-of-study

NC K-12 Science Standard Course of Study

9-12

Biology

ecosystems-interactions-energy-and-dynamics

Ecosystems- Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

LS.Bio.5.1

Predator-Prey Interactions

All organisms need energy to survive. For example, gazelles are herbivores that feed on plants. On the other hand, cheetahs are carnivores that hunt gazelles. This predator&#x2013;prey interaction is called predation, in which the cheetah acts as the predator and gains energy by consuming the gazelle, its prey.
 
 A predator uses a range of sensory adaptations to detect prey, depending on the species. These may include sight, smell, and hearing. Specialized physical features, such as teeth or claws in cheetahs, allow the predator to capture and consume the prey.
 
 As prey evolve traits to avoid predation, predators also evolve traits that improve hunting success, such as the cheetah&#x2019;s increased speed.
 
 For example, some birds have evolved exceptional eyesight, including color vision, which helps them locate and hunt prey. A defense called crypsis helps prey avoid visual detection by blending into their environment. For example, peppered moths have colors and patterns that match the bark and branches of their host trees.
 
 In other cases, prey do not hide. For example, monarch butterflies show their toxicity with bright, patterned wings. This warning coloration, called aposematism, acts as a visual cue to predators that the butterfly is harmful or inedible. Birds that ignore this warning experience a bad taste or nausea and later avoid similar butterflies.
 
 When a species&#x2019; warning coloration works well, other species that face the same predators may evolve to copy its appearance.
 
 One such pattern is M&#xFC;llerian mimicry, in which species that are toxic or unpalatable to predators evolve similar warning signals and both benefit as predators learn to avoid them. Viceroy butterflies, for example, are toxic and closely resemble monarch butterflies. When predators try one species, they learn to avoid the other species rather than risk another unpleasant feeding experience.
 
 Alternatively, Batesian mimicry happens when a harmless species mimics a harmful species. For instance, predators avoid the bright, tricolor banded pattern of venomous coral snakes. Nonvenomous king snakes benefit from this pattern by mimicking the coral snake&#x2019;s appearance.
 
 Predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race, driving the evolution of adaptations in both predators and prey. This mutual evolutionary change between interacting species is called coevolution.

Kersch-Becker, Mônica F., André Kessler et Jennifer S. Thaler. « Les défenses végétales limitent la croissance de la population d’herbivores en modifiant les interactions prédateur-proie. » Actes de la Royal Society B : Sciences biologiques 284, n° 1862 (2017) : 20171120. [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1120">Source</a>]

Krebs, Charles J. « Des lemmings et des lièvres d’Amérique : l’écologie du nord du Canada ». Actes de la Royal Society B : Biological Sciences 278, n° 1705 (2010) : 481-489. [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992">Source</a>]

Skelhorn, John et Candy Rowe. « La cognition et l’évolution du camouflage. » Actes de la Royal Society B : Sciences biologiques 283, n° 1825 (2016) : 20152890. [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2890">Source</a>]

interactions prédateur-proie

Les pr&#xE9;dateurs consomment des proies pour l&#x2019;&#xE9;nergie. Les pr&#xE9;dateurs qui se procurent des proies et les proies qui &#xE9;vitent la pr&#xE9;dation augmentent leurs chances de survie et de reproduction (c.-&#xE0;-d. leur valeur s&#xE9;lective). Les interactions routini&#xE8;res entre pr&#xE9;dateurs et proies suscitent des adaptations mutuelles qui am&#xE9;liorent les offensives des pr&#xE9;dateurs, comme les griffes, les dents et la vitesse, ainsi que les d&#xE9;fenses des proies, y compris le camouflage, l&#x2019;apos&#xE9;matisme et le mim&#xE9;tisme. Ainsi, les interactions pr&#xE9;dateur-proie ressemblent &#xE0; une course aux armements &#xE9;volutive.
 
 Bien que la pr&#xE9;dation soit g&#xE9;n&#xE9;ralement associ&#xE9;e aux carnivores, par exemple, les gu&#xE9;pards chassant les gazelles, il existe un type d&#x2019;interaction &#xE9;troitement li&#xE9;. L&#x2019;herbivorie est la consommation de plantes par les animaux connus sous le nom d&#x2019;herbivores. Les plantes dissuadent g&#xE9;n&#xE9;ralement les herbivores en employant un &#xE9;ventail de d&#xE9;fenses, y compris des d&#xE9;fenses morphologiques, comme les &#xE9;pines d&#x2019;un acacia, et des d&#xE9;fenses chimiques telles que les toxines d&#x2019;une ascl&#xE9;piade. Cependant, certains herbivores d&#xE9;veloppent des adaptations pour contourner les d&#xE9;fenses v&#xE9;g&#xE9;tales. Les girafes, par exemple, ont de longues langues habiles qui leur permettent de consommer les feuilles de l&#x2019;acacia tout en &#xE9;vitant ses &#xE9;pines. Les chenilles du papillon monarque ont d&#xE9;velopp&#xE9; une immunit&#xE9; aux toxines de l&#x2019;ascl&#xE9;piade et, &#xE0; la place, elles ing&#xE8;rent l&#x2019;ascl&#xE9;piade pour stocker les toxines dans leurs tissus comme une d&#xE9;fense contre leurs propres pr&#xE9;dateurs.
 
 La taille des populations de pr&#xE9;dateurs et de proies peut augmenter et diminuer de fa&#xE7;on cyclique, en partie &#xE0; cause de la pr&#xE9;dation. Par exemple, les populations de lynx et de li&#xE8;vres d&#x2019;Am&#xE9;rique au nord du Canada font un cycle environ tous les 10 ans, la population de lynx &#xE9;tant &#xE0; la tra&#xEE;ne de 1 &#xE0; 2 ans par rapport &#xE0; la population de li&#xE8;vres. &#xC0; mesure que la population de li&#xE8;vres augmente, la population de lynx, qui pr&#xE9;f&#xE8;re se nourrir de li&#xE8;vres d&#x2019;Am&#xE9;rique, augmente &#xE9;galement. Cependant, &#xE0; mesure que le lynx capture les li&#xE8;vres, la population de li&#xE8;vres commence &#xE0; d&#xE9;cliner. La raret&#xE9; des li&#xE8;vres finit par r&#xE9;duire la population de lynx, ce qui permet aux li&#xE8;vres de prosp&#xE9;rer et au cycle de se r&#xE9;p&#xE9;ter. D&#x2019;autres facteurs, comme la disponibilit&#xE9; de la v&#xE9;g&#xE9;tation et la pr&#xE9;dation par d&#x2019;autres pr&#xE9;dateurs, ont &#xE9;galement une incidence sur le cycle de la population de li&#xE8;vres en limitant la taille de sa population maximale et son taux de croissance.

Interactions prédateur-proie

Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction ...

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Education

Enseignement

JoVE Core

Biologie

Ecology

Écologie

Population and Community Ecology

Écologie des populations et des communautés

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

TERMES ET CONCEPTS CLÉS

predator and prey evolution

Predator and prey evolution shapes how animals survive and reproduce. Predators gain energy by eating prey, while prey that avoid being eaten improve their fitness. Over time, both sides develop traits that help them win this struggle.

Predators often evolve tools for attack, such as claws, teeth, and speed. Prey evolve defenses that help them escape or stay hidden. These defenses can include crypsis, or blending in with the background, aposematism, or warning coloration, and mimicry, which is copying another species’ appearance. Because each side keeps adapting in response to the other, predator-prey interactions can be seen as an evolutionary arms race.

This pattern is not limited to animals eating other animals. Herbivory is the consumption of plants by herbivores, which are animals that feed on plant tissue. Plants defend themselves with features like thorns, as in acacia trees, and with chemicals, such as the toxins in milkweed. Some herbivores evolve ways around these defenses. Giraffes have long, dexterous tongues that let them reach acacia leaves without getting caught by thorns. Monarch butterfly caterpillars are immune to milkweed toxins, and they store those toxins in their bodies to help protect themselves from predators.

Predator and prey numbers can also rise and fall in cycles. The lynx and snowshoe hare in northern Canada are a classic example. Their populations follow a pattern that repeats about every 10 years, and the lynx population changes about 1 to 2 years after the hare population changes. When hares become more common, lynx numbers rise because lynx prefer snowshoe hares. As lynx catch more hares, the hare population drops. Fewer hares then cause lynx numbers to decline, which allows the hare population to grow again. Vegetation availability and other predators also affect this cycle by limiting how high hare numbers can rise and how fast they can grow.

Predator and Prey Evolution

what are populations and communities?

Population Size, Density, and Community Roles

Populations, metapopulations, and communities are key parts of ecology. Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment. A population is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same general area. A community includes multiple populations of different species that coexist and interact in one habitat. Populations are dynamic because they respond to biotic and abiotic factors. Biotic factors are living influences, and abiotic factors...

distribution and dispersion

Species Range and Spacing Patterns

Ecology looks at how organisms interact with each other and with their environment. It also examines where species live and how individuals are arranged within those areas. The geographic range of a species is the total area where its members are found. Dispersion is the pattern of spacing among individuals inside that range. Within a species’ geographic range, dispersion can follow three main patterns: uniform, random, or clumped. These patterns depend on environmental conditions and on...

life histories

Life History Strategies and Survivorship

Life history strategies show how organisms balance survival and reproduction across a lifetime. An organism’s life history includes birth, growth, sexual maturation, reproduction, and death. These patterns reflect trade-offs in how much energy and resources go to making offspring and caring for them. R-strategists and K-strategists show two common reproductive strategies. R-strategists, with r standing for rate, have high fecundity, or reproductive potential. They produce many offspring that...

energy budgets and reproductive strategies

Reproductive Trade-Offs in Life Cycles

Organisms must divide limited energy between growth, maintenance, and reproduction. These energy budgets create trade-offs. Energy used for reproduction cannot be used for survival or growth, so species follow different reproductive patterns. Semelparity and iteroparity are two main strategies on this continuum. Semelparous species reproduce only once in their lifetime. They usually put most or all available resources into that single reproductive event and then die. This approach often...

population growth

Population Growth Curves and Carrying Capacity

Population growth changes with births, deaths, immigration, and emigration. When birth rates and immigration are higher than death rates and emigration, a population increases. When deaths and emigration are higher, the population decreases. These changes can be shown on a graph of population size over time. Under ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can grow exponentially. This produces a J-shaped growth curve. Such rapid growth is seen in newly introduced invasive species...

ecological niches

How Species Share Ecological Niches

Ecological niches describe how species fit into an ecosystem. A niche includes the living and nonliving factors that shape where an organism can live. Food resources, climate, and terrain are all part of that role. Two species cannot occupy the exact same niche in the same habitat for long. When their niches overlap too much, the competitive exclusion principle applies. One species will outcompete the other, and the weaker species must adapt or disappear. Similar species can still coexist...

symbiosis

Symbiosis and Species Interactions

Symbiosis and other close species interactions shape how organisms live together in a community. These long-term relationships can affect the distribution and abundance of the species involved. They also often lead to co-evolution, where species change in response to one another. Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship that benefits both species. A common example is ants and aphids. Aphids feed on phloem in plant stems with piercing mouthparts and release a sugary fluid. Ants feed on this fluid,...

competition

How Limited Resources Shape Competition

Competition happens when organisms need the same limited resources in an environment. It is a net-negative interaction because both competitors lose fitness when neither has full access to the resource. This can happen even without direct contact between the competing individuals or populations. Competition within a species is called intraspecific competition. It often helps control population size because rapid growth can lead to crowding and fewer available resources. Stronger individuals...

predator-prey interactions

Predator and prey evolution shapes how animals survive and reproduce. Predators gain energy by eating prey, while prey that avoid being eaten improve their fitness. Over time, both sides develop traits that help them win this struggle. Predators often evolve tools for attack, such as claws, teeth, and speed. Prey evolve defenses that help them escape or stay hidden. These defenses can include crypsis, or blending in with the background, aposematism, or warning coloration, and mimicry, which is...

keystone species

Sea Stars, Wolves, and Ecosystem Balance

Keystone species help keep ecosystems balanced. In ecology, biodiversity is often described by species richness, which is the number of species present, and evenness, which is how evenly those species are represented. Community structure can also be shaped by abiotic factors such as sunlight and nutrients, disturbances such as fire or flood, species interactions such as predation or competition, and chance events such as the invasion of a foreign species. A keystone species has a much larger...

ecological disturbance

Disturbance Patterns and Biodiversity

Ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in an environment that can change an ecosystem in a major way. It may come from abiotic, biotic, or human-caused factors. The size of the impact depends on the disturbance’s intensity, how often it happens, and how widely it spreads. Disturbances can be very small or very large. Trampling underbrush is one example of a small disturbance. Forest fires and floods are larger examples. Natural events such as volcanoes and hurricanes can also disturb...

ecological succession

How Succession Shapes Ecosystem Recovery

Ecological succession is shaped by facilitation, inhibition, and toleration. These processes explain how one community changes into the next after a disturbance or a new surface becomes available. Early species can either help, block, or simply coexist with later species. Facilitation happens when pioneer species make conditions better for later species. They may increase nutrients, water, or light. In inhibition, early species make conditions worse by limiting resources. In some cases, later...

key terms and concepts

Explore how predators and prey drive evolution through attack, defense, herbivory, and population cycles such as the lynx and snowshoe hare.

Predator and Prey Evolution | JoVE K12

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interdependent-relationships-in-ecosystems

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

3.1.9-12.I

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Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy And Dynamics

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BIO.7

BIO.7.b

BIO.8

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LS.6.a

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New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science

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HS-LS2-7

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Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

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SC.912.L.17

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BIO.13

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What are Biogeochemical Cycles?

The most common elements in organic molecules, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus, are only available in the ecosystem in limited ...

The Water Cycle

The Earth&rsquo;s hydrosphere includes all of the areas where the storage and movement of water occurs. Since water is the basis of all living processes, ...

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is the basis of all organic matter on Earth, and is recycled through the ecosystem in two primary processes: one in which carbon is exchanged among ...

The Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen atoms, present in all proteins and DNA, are recycled between abiotic and biotic components of the ecosystem. However, the primary form of ...

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Unlike carbon, water, and nitrogen, phosphorus is not present in the atmosphere as a gas. Instead, most phosphorus in the ecosystem exists as compounds, ...

The Sulfur Cycle

Sulfur, an important element in the chemical makeup of proteins, is recycled through the atmosphere and aquatic and terrestrial environments. Found in the ...

Use models to illustrate how processes in organisms contribute to the flow of energy and the cycling of matter within an ecosystem.

LS.Bio.4.1

What are Populations and Communities?

Populations are groups of individuals of the same species that inhabit a shared environment. Communities include multiple co-existing, interacting ...

Distribution and Dispersion

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment and with one another. An important aspect of ecology is understanding where species ...

Life Histories

Constrained by limited energy and resources, organisms must compromise between offspring quantity and parental investment. This trade-off is represented ...

Energy Budgets and Reproductive Strategies

Organisms must balance energy intake with the energy required for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. These trade-offs result in a variety of ...

Population Growth

Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with ...

Use models to explain the relationship between the flow of energy and cycling of matter among organisms in an ecosystem.

LS.Bio.4.2

Ecological Niches

All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors&#x2014;including food resources, climate, and ...

Ecological Succession

Ecological succession is influenced by the processes of facilitation, inhibition, and toleration. Facilitation occurs when early successional species ...

Keystone Species

Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ...

Symbiosis

Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those ...

Competition

When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. ...

Ecological Disturbance

An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced ...

Use mathematics and computational thinking to explain how interactions between organisms (predator/prey, competition) affect carrying capacity and maintain stability in an ecosystem.

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity describes the variety of living things at multiple organizational levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity ...

Threats to Biodiversity

There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species ...

Biodiversity and Human Values

Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather ...

What is Conservation Biology?

Conservation biology is a scientific field that focuses on the preservation of biodiversity in order to protect ecosystems while meeting the needs of the ...

Sustainable Development

As the human population continues to grow and use resources, we must be mindful of our planet&rsquo;s natural limits. Sustainable development provides a ...

Conservation of Small Populations

Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens ...

What is Weather?

Overview

Weather refers to the current state of atmospheric conditions at a specific time and place. Weather is temporary and is influenced by the ...

Global Climate Change

Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global ...

Conservation of Declining Populations

Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent ...

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land ...

Engage in argument from evidence to evaluate various solutions to reduce the impact of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem health.

LS.Bio.5.2

Analyze the relationships between matter and energy within ecosystems.

Predator and Prey Evolution

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