Animal Diversity 7th Edition

Published by McGraw-Hill Education
ISBN 10: 0073524255
ISBN 13: 978-0-07352-425-2

Chapter 2 - Review Questions - Page 61: 10

Answer

Predation is the interaction between species in an ecological community in which members of one species (prey) serve as food for another species (predators). The predator-prey relationship differs from the parasite-host relationship in that the predator kills and consumes the prey, while the parasite often lets the host live and feeds from it for a long period of time. The predator-prey relationship also involve coevolution: predators get better at catching prey as the prey gets better at avoiding capture. This creates an evolutionary race that the predator can't afford to win, as if the predator became so efficient that it exterminated the prey, the predator species would have no food and also go extinct.

Work Step by Step

Predation is when one species uses another as food. It is different from parasites, since the predator kills the prey and a parasite often lets the host live to feed longer. The predator can't afford to become to efficient in hunting, as if it exterminated its prey it would have no food and also cease to exist.
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