Tag: Predators

ScienceDaily (July 1, 2010) A new analysis of the extinction of woolly mammoths and other large mammals more than 10,000 years ago suggests that they may have fallen victim to the same type of "trophic cascade" of ecosystem disruption that scientists say is being caused today by the global decline of predators such as wolves, cougars, and sharks.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 7, 2009) A scientist from the University of Salamanca and another from Yale University have shown that the presence of predators affects the behaviour of Acanthodactylus beershebensis, a lizard species from the Negev Desert in Israel. According to the study, these reptiles move less and catch less mobile and different prey if they are under pressure from predators.

Many theoretical models had predicted this result, but until now there had been very few experimental trials and none in the case of saurians (reptiles).
This experiment by Dror Hawlena, a researcher at Yale University in the United States, and Valentםn Pיrez-Mellado, a researcher at the University of Salamanca, has shown that certain animals, such as the insectivore lizard Acanthodactylus beershebensis, can change their behaviour and diet to avoid being eaten.