Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026
09:03
Manipulation of Color Patterns in Jumping Spiders for Use in Behavioral Experiments
Published on: May 21, 2019
Evolutionarily stable defence and signalling of that defence
M Broom1, M P Speed, G D Ruxton
1Department of Mathematics, Centre for Statistics and Stochastic Modelling, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RF, UK. M.Broom@sussex.ac.uk
Journal of Theoretical Biology
|March 15, 2006
Summary
Prey defense strategies evolve through game theory, with toxins impacting predator attacks. Maximum crypsis can coexist with varying toxicity levels, influencing prey survival and predator avoidance.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Game theory
- Animal behavior
Background:
- Prey species evolve defense mechanisms against predators.
- Conspicuousness and defense levels are key traits in predator-prey interactions.
- Previous models did not fully explore predator responses to intermediate prey defense.
Purpose of the Study:
- To model the evolution and maintenance of prey defense and conspicuousness.
- To investigate the role of toxins in prey survival and predator behavior.
- To identify evolutionarily stable strategies (ESSs) for prey defense.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a game theoretic model.
- Analyzed predator attack probabilities based on prey defense.
- Examined conditions for evolutionarily stable strategies (ESSs).
Main Results:
- Four ESSs for maximum crypsis were predicted, involving zero, non-aversive, or aversive toxicity.
- Highly toxic prey can remain cryptic if increased attack rates are outweighed by predator avoidance.
- Aposematic (conspicuous) prey ESSs also predicted, with potential for variation in appearance.
Conclusions:
- Prey defense strategies are complex, balancing crypsis, toxicity, and conspicuousness.
- Toxins can enhance survival even for cryptic prey, potentially leading to predator aversion.
- Multiple stable strategies exist for prey defense, including cryptic and aposematic forms.
Related Concept Videos
02:26Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores
Plants present a rich source of nutrients for many organisms, making it a target for herbivores and infectious agents. Plants, though lacking a proper immune system, have developed an array of constitutive and inducible defenses to fend off these attacks.
01:32What is Natural Selection?
Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.The Theory of Natural...
01:16Transduction
Among the three main modes of HGT—transformation, conjugation, and transduction—transduction is unique in that it is mediated by bacteriophages, or bacterial viruses.Transduction occurs in two ways. Generalized transduction occurs during the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage infection. In this process, bacteriophages infect bacterial cells, replicate within them, and ultimately cause cell lysis, releasing newly assembled virions. Occasionally, random fragments of the bacterial genome are...
01:20Mate Choice
Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
01:46Types of Selection
Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
01:20Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the human psyche...