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Article: Mammals as Predators: The Proceedings of a Symposium Held by the Zoological Society of London and the Mammal Society, London, 22nd and 23rd November 1991.
- Article from:
- Ecology
- Article date:
- January 1, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Ecological Society of America. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The scope of relationships considered predatory has enlarged through time. In her otherwise acclaimed The Carnivores, R. F. Ewer (1973. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York) made the curious statement that, ". . . in the history of the placental mammals, although a number of orders if any were needed. Using Chiroptera, Insectivora, and rodents, in addition to Carnivora, to examine issues of adaptation, coevolution, and conservation, it shows that the essence of predation lies in feeding on concentrated, patchily distributed packets of highly digestible, nutrient-rich organisms that die as a result of being eaten. Prey of mammals tend to be motile and to have ...