The animal kingdom is full of predators and prey, and some predators are exceptional killers. But there are many ways to catch a meal, and many ways to define the conditions for success as a predator.
So which animals are really the best hunters?
This is a seemingly complicated question, according to mark berg, an evolutionary ecologist at Brigham Young University. “There’s some very interesting ecology and evolutionary biology tied into this simple question,” he told his Live Science. “It turns out that predation is the glue that holds everything together. This is how energy passes through ecosystems.”
The most obvious way to approach the question of hunting ability is to consider an animal’s capture rate, that is, the number of times an animal successfully captures prey out of all attempts as a group.
By this metric, the most successful species are actually not the species we most associate with hunting, such as lions, tigers, wolves, and other large predators.lions commit murder approximately 30% of the timewhile Tiger is successful. Only about a 10% chance. Instead, a relatively overlooked dragonfly takes this title. These insects, along with their cousin the insect fly, Boasts a catch rate of up to 97%and they Can consume hundreds of mosquitoes per day.
Part of their success is due to their extraordinary vision. The dragonfly and his friends have compound eyes that give them nearly 360 degrees of vision, and their brains have the following abilities: process sensory information very quickly, you will be able to predict where your prey will move. Dragonflies are also good flyers because they can move their forewings and hindwings independently, allowing them to zoom backwards.
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But there are other definitions of successful hunting, Berg said. Usually hunters fall into one of two camps. Some animals actively chase and attack their prey, while others rely on patience and lie down to earn food. In terms of pure efficiency, something like a large python might take the crown, Berg said.
“A big snake like that can sit in one place and wait and wait and wait and wait. And eventually, when the right animal comes by, they’ll catch it and kill it.” said Berg. “For these large snakes, it may only happen two or three times a year.”
Another way to approach this question is to consider adaptability as a measure of skill. Jason FisherWildlife biologists at the University of Victoria in Canada say coyotes are likely the winners here because they can hunt alone or in groups and can eat everything from elk calves to mice. Stated.their flexibility helped them Thrives in most habitats, including human cities. “Understanding and exploiting available resources makes them great predators,” Fisher said, adding that coyotes are good at “taking advantage of whatever is at hand.”
If not, some species are simply so innovative that you can’t help but think they’re winners. The long-eared fish, a tropical fish that lives in the mangroves of Southeast Asia, can judge the distance between itself and an insect resting on a leaf from below the water’s surface, and use carefully targeted streams of water to defeat the insect. At distances less than 2 feet (65 centimeters), Their aim is almost 100% accurate. Octopuses are similarly successful at hunting outside of their natural environment. In addition to using legendary camouflage, these cephalopods also land for a short period of time Chase your prey.
And which animal is the worst hunter? In some ways, Fisher said, this is an even more difficult question to answer. All species that hunt are naturally successful because they are able to sustain themselves as a population. But in terms of sheer weirdness, Fisher told Live Science that his vote goes to the Wolverines. Although wolverines are considered hunters, they rely on scavenging for food during lean periods.
“They have a very unnatural shape and their strategy is strange,” Fisher said, noting that wolverines hunt by getting into the faces of their prey and scaring them with screams and other loud noises. Stated. “They basically say, ‘If it works, that’s good, and if it doesn’t, you’re out of luck,'” he says.