Question

How have some organisms (animals) evolved to defend themselves from predation? Give examples.

Answer 1

With the advent of evolution, organisms have developed various strategies to avoid predation in order to survive better. Some of these strategies can be enlisted as below:

1. Comuflage: This is the most common and widely used strategy. Accordingly, animals comuflage with their environment in order to prevent being found by the predator. For example, praying mantis, reptiles such as some lizards etc.
2. Development of non-palatable trait: Some insects develop highly unpalatable flavours or copy the external features of unpalatable species in order to avoid being predated. For example, monarch butterfly.
3. Physical adaptations: Some animals develop physical adaptations such as spines and horns on their surfaces which prevent predation. For example, some insects.
4. Staying in group: Many aquatic and land animals prefer to stay in groups in order to avoid predation directly, such as fishes, birds etc.

Thus, these are some of the strategies utilized by animals to avoid predation and hence survive and evolve.