Back تكيف ضد المفترسات Arabic Anti-predator adaptation English Kontraŭpredanta adapto Esperanto Defensas contra la depredación Spanish Kaitsekohastumus Estonian سازگاری ضدشکار Persian Défense contre les prédateurs French Adaptacións antipredadores Galician התגוננות מפני טורפים HE Adaptasi antipredator ID
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For most animals, defence against predators is vital. Being eaten is not the only threat to life: parasites and diseases may also be fatal. But many animals are carnivores, and others, especially small animals, are often eaten.
Since life is about reproduction, anything that keeps a creature alive long enough for it to reproduce will be selected for. The next generation comes from the fertilised eggs of the previous generation.
Not surprisingly, then, animals have developed a wide range of defences against predation.[1][2] Some of these defences apply also to plants: herbivory on plants can be very damaging, and reduce a plant's fertility. Many plants have some defence against herbivores.
- ↑ Edmunds M. 1974. Defence in animals: a survey of anti-predator defences. Longmans, London. ISBN 0-582-44132-3
- ↑ Ruxton G.D. Sherratt T.N. and Speed M.P. 2004. Avoiding attack: the evolutionary ecology of crypsis, warning signals & mimicry. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852860-4