Predator pressure shapes prey behavior as much as prey appearance.
Evidence
Predators don’t just drive their prey to match colors with their backgrounds; they drive them to behave in new ways. When and how an organism moves can influence how vulnerable it is to predators. Animals that panic, dashing from their hiding places at the wrong time, or animals that walk or fly with the wrong gait, can break camouflage with deadly consequences. A leaf-mimicking katydid would stand out if it whirred through a forest clearing in broad daylight. In fact, these katydids forage at night. During the daytime, they rest on branches nestled amid similar-looking leaves. If they do need to move in the daytime, they lurch with a swaying gait just like the back-and-forth flutter of a leaf in the breeze. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 44
Categorization
- XREF: Parallels the camouflage selection on oldfield mice discussed in the prior chapter — the same process driving behavior rather than just color. — connects to: A predator’s mere potential presence shapes the behavior of an entire ecosystem. — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 507; Identical species populations can differ behaviorally due to local predator pressure — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 673; Predation pressure drives camouflage and mimicry inside the moss forest too — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 263