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Mammals / feloids

338

QuestionAnswer
Feloids Placental Carnivores
Carnivores illustrate many principles of adaptation Killing abilities (teeth, claws, hunting behaviour) Alternative strategies when meat scarce How prey size and distribution determine sociality and population dynamics of carnivores
Representative carnivores Creodonts: all extinct by end Eocene True Carnivores: Oligo-Recent, 2 branches
Representative Feloids Cheetah (sprinter, solitary specialist on small gazelle-sized game) Hyena (cursorial, pack hunter on large game, female dominated hierarchy) Mongoose (small, sociable for protection but solitary hunter of inverts and lizards)
Carnivore Key character carnProgressive reduction in number of teeth, increase in complexity cassial tooth with efficient slicing action
Carnassials defined from function, not name of tooth, formed from 4th upper Pm/1st lower M (Pm4/M1)
canines used for stabbing, holding
Temporal muscle provides up-down force for slicing
Diastema space between teeth, In carnivores, gives space for opposite canines when jaws closed .
Large prey Large prey easy to find (stable numbers), risky to kill, hunt in packs, breeding success depends on social status/kinship (lion, wolf) or age and experience (leopard, tiger) adults long-lived, populations stable (K-strategists)
Small prey easy to kill but hard to find (unstable numbers). hunt alone or in non-cooperative groups kill whenever opportunity offers, cache surplus breeding success depends on food supplies adults shortlived, populations unstable (r-strategists) - weasel, stoat
Other food strategies Mixed diet including vegetation (bear), Return to total herbivory (panda), Adapt to human environment (racoon) - changes in teeth reflect changes
Sexual dimorphism minimal in generally monogamous or co-operative canids maximal in strongly competitive mustelids, lions, sea-lions. WHY? High polygamy (> 1 female per male) means high variance in LRS of males High variance increases consequences of sexual selection
Pests Invading predators (accidental): American mink Mustela vison, Invading predators (deliberate): stoats, weasels, ferrets intended to control rabbits in NZ, risk of effects on native fauna ignored, Invading prey: sheep ranching
Creodonts Dominant carnivores of early Tertiary, but not true carnivores (no carnassials)
Feloidea Extreme carnivores - eat little but vertebrate prey, 2 main groups, both either solitary or sociable, Big/ Small cats. Most more arboreal/stealthy than cursorial Retractable claws retain sharp points. captive breeding.
Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus 1 modern sp with 2 sspp, both declining. Adaptations to speed extended legs, flexible spine, clear of ground 2x per gait cycle. F solitary, prey too small to share except with cubs M need alliances to gain access to F. 70% mortality.
Hyaenas Feloidea not canoid, large eversible anal pouch with scent glands, 2 scents with different message, Strongly social, Large head with massive crushing teeth, powerful jaws, can digest bone. 2 hyena hunting wildebeeste calves 74% success vs 0% alone
Female dominance in spotted hyena mimic MM anatomy and behaviour, hard to distinguish from real thing.
Mongooses hunt small vertebrates, insects not immune to snake bite but agile enough to avoid strike can break eggs by throwing them highly sociable Packs have 1 breeding pair, their young, and immigrants, Care of young shared , guards
Meerkat Hunt small prey individually, share sentinel duty predation risk high when nose down, foraging time increased in group. Only dominant breeding pair produces young. chances of conception by subordinate F suppressed by own low oestrogen.
Created by: LH-ward
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