Question

Under what conditions are generalization favored overspecialization and vice versa. Explain why those conditions lead to specialization or generalization. For each of the animals below, tell me the ways they are likely to avoid predation of themselves or their offspring (tactics that may be employed to deter predators, camouflage techniques, behavioral techniques/postures, etc.).  There can be multiple answers per species. You’ll have to use your web skills to look these up! Put some thought into it!

• Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris)

• Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italica)

• Blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena spp.)

• Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

• Five-lined skink (Plestiodon faciatus)

Answer 1

Many species show negative interaction. Predation is one of them.Predation occurs when members of one species eat another species members.So it is an act of capturing ,killing, and eating. The organism which does the act of predation is called a predator. The second organism which is killed and eaten is called prey. For avoiding predation ,prey developed antipredator defense strategies ---

1--cryptic coloration/camouflage-It makes prey to difficult to spot because the color and pattern of prey resembles to those in the visual background.

2--Mimicry --It is a phenomenon whereby an individual of an species gain an advantage by resembling an individual of a different species.Mimicry is 2 type ...(a)Mullerian Mimicry occurs among organism in which all the mimetic species are offensive and obnoxious. Bees, wasps, and hornets show mullerian mimicry. (b)Batesian Mimicry gains a selective advantages by looking at dangerous or distasteful organism .The classic example of Batesian Mimicry are monarch and viceroy butterflies.