scholarly journals Effects of Prey Size on Scat Analysis to Determine River OtterLontra canadensisDiet

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn M. Crimmins ◽  
Nathan M. Roberts ◽  
David A. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Prey Size ◽  
Scat Analysis

Effects of prey size, meal size, meal composition, and daily frequency of feeding on the recovery of rodent remains from carnivore scats

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (11) ◽  
pp. 1811-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian T. Kelly ◽  
Edward O. Garton
Keyword(s):  
Prey Size ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Meal Size ◽  
Correction Factors ◽  
Physiological Mechanisms ◽  
Scat Analysis ◽  
Gastrointestinal Physiology ◽  
Daily Frequency ◽  
Feeding Trials ◽  
Meal Composition

Recovery of rodent bone and teeth from coyote (Canis latrans) scats (feces) varied with prey size, meal size, energy content of the meal, and the frequency with which prey were consumed. Mean percentages of mouse and rat teeth recovered ranged from 1% (SE = 0.5%, n = 5) to 24.4% (SE = 3.6%, n = 4) and from 13.8% (SE = 3.8%, n = 5) to 52.5% (SE = 16.6%, n = 5), respectively. A significant portion of this variation resulted from physiological mechanisms affecting how long prey were retained in the digestive acids of the stomach. Recovery of hair did not vary and thus it was considered to be nondigestible. Owing to the variation in the recovery of bone and teeth and the lack of variation in the recovery of hair, we recommend the use of teeth or bone to identify the small rodents present in carnivore scats, and then the use of a visual estimate of hair, or sample of hair, to apportion the scat to the prey items present. We caution against using the numbers of teeth or diagnostic bones to determine the number or amount of a prey item represented by a scat without addressing the variability in their recovery. The effects of gastrointestinal physiology should be considered when planning feeding trials to derive correction factors for scat analysis.

scholarly journals Prey Size Decline as a Unifying Ecological Selecting Agent in Pleistocene Human Evolution

Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Miki Ben-Dor ◽  
Ran Barkai
Keyword(s):  
Prey Size ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Biomass Density ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Progressive Decline ◽  
Brain Expansion

We hypothesize that megafauna extinctions throughout the Pleistocene, that led to a progressive decline in large prey availability, were a primary selecting agent in key evolutionary and cultural changes in human prehistory. The Pleistocene human past is characterized by a series of transformations that include the evolution of new physiological traits and the adoption, assimilation, and replacement of cultural and behavioral patterns. Some changes, such as brain expansion, use of fire, developments in stone-tool technologies, or the scale of resource intensification, were uncharacteristically progressive. We previously hypothesized that humans specialized in acquiring large prey because of their higher foraging efficiency, high biomass density, higher fat content, and the use of less complex tools for their acquisition. Here, we argue that the need to mitigate the additional energetic cost of acquiring progressively smaller prey may have been an ecological selecting agent in fundamental adaptive modes demonstrated in the Paleolithic archaeological record. We describe several potential associations between prey size decline and specific evolutionary and cultural changes that might have been driven by the need to adapt to increased energetic demands while hunting and processing smaller and smaller game.

Does prey abundance affect prey size selection by the Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo)?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Tobajas ◽  
Carlos Rouco ◽  
Javier Fernandez-de-Simon ◽  
Francisco Díaz-Ruiz ◽  
Francisca Castro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prey Size ◽  
Prey Abundance ◽  
Bubo Bubo ◽  
Size Selection ◽  
Eagle Owl

Does prey size induce head skeleton phenotypic plasticity during early ontogeny in the snake Boa constrictor ?

2005 ◽  
Vol 267 (04) ◽  
pp. 363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon W. Schuett ◽  
David L. Hardy ◽  
Ryan L. Earley ◽  
Harry W. Greene
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Early Ontogeny ◽  
Boa Constrictor ◽  
Head Skeleton

scholarly journals Changes in foraging mode caused by a decline in prey size have major bioenergetic consequences for a small pelagic fish

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Thoral ◽  
Quentin Queiros ◽  
Damien Roussel ◽  
Gilbert Dutto ◽  
Eric Gasset ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prey Size ◽  
Pelagic Fish ◽  
Small Pelagic Fish ◽  
Foraging Mode
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