Monday, May 20, 2013

Cannibalism in Nature

In zoology, cannibalism is the act of one individual of a species consuming all or part of another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded for more than 1500 species. It does not, as once believed, occur only as a result of extreme food shortages or artificial conditions, but commonly occurs under natural conditions in a variety of species. Cannibalism seems to be especially prevalent in aquatic communities, in which up to approximately 90% of the organisms engage in cannibalism at some point of the life cycle. Cannibalism is also not restricted to carnivorous species, but is commonly found in herbivores and detritivores.




Photo credit: Jesse Schwebach on Flickr


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Photo by Karen Bacon/Solent - LINK

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Photo credit: Piet Heymans/Noble/Draper - LINK

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