#EvolutionaryFail #PredatorProblems
So, picture this: A predator evolves a super cool mutation that makes it a top-notch hunter. They’re snagging prey left and right, feeling like the king of the jungle. But little do they know, their efficiency could be their downfall.
I mean, think about it. What if they become so good at hunting that they wipe out their food source? It’s like going to a buffet and eating all the food before anyone else can get a bite. Not a good look.
So, I’m here wondering if there’s ever been a case where a predator’s evolutionary trait backfired because they just got too darn good at what they do. Has there ever been a species that evolved too fast for its own good, hunting themselves to extinction?
Let’s delve into the world of natural selection and see if there are any cautionary tales out there. What do you think? Let’s chat and uncover some wild stories together! 🦁🐺🔍 #CuriousMinds #Let‘sInvestigate
Yes. Lots of times predators go extinct because they ate up all their prey.
Dinosaurs probably evolved into much smaller birds because the food sources to feed the massive older dinos were too scarce.
You could make a solid argument, in fact many fields of science have made the argument, that humans are so effective as a species that we’ve caused considerable damage to the habitability of our planet. Something like two thirds of all species either have gone or will soon go extinct because of humans.
Yeah dude, we’re currently working on killing ourselves and everything on the planet we’re so good at what we do.
sabre tooth tiger was the one we got taught. over specialisation iirc. their teeth were selected for in breeding by mates but eventually it’s suggested they got in the way of eating of protruded into weird places.
Not a predator but lots of viruses and bacteria that cause illnesses are too effective at killing. Ebola for example has a 70%-90% kill rate and ends up killing faster then it spreads so outbreaks never really make it very far.
Crocodiles used to have legs long enough to gallop. They ate everything around them and starved.
I’m pretty sure this is why we don’t have megalodons anymore
My guess is that earth’s next sapient species will say that exact thing about us.
Giant short faced bear!.
From a human perspective this happened in Easter Island, and environmental collapse is theorized to be the reason behind the desertification of Iraq from the Sumerian city-state days, as well as the collapse of the Mayan polities.
For species, experiments have been done by leaving rats on islands without predators where the rats overbreed and exhaust local food sources then turn to eating each other.
Predators are generally helpful to ecosystems, and the lack of predators leads to ecosystem collapse as the prey animals exhaust the local food supply and hit a “bust” cycle. [Predator-Prey cycles are self reinforcing](https://www.futurity.org/predator-prey-cycles-coexistence-2238732/) over long time periods absent external intervention.
The lesson here is that the environment will survive, but humanity may not survive the shock.
WW
Not a predator per se but similar enough in the sense that a species destroyed itself and the environment that sustained them. https://www.damninteresting.com/how-bacteria-nearly-destroyed-all-life/
I believe that the shell boring sea snail went extinct once before since it was so effective and eating other snails. The trait has only recently resurfaced again, and only 1 species of snail has it.
Look up the hug wolf.
Cats
The X chromosome is always trying to kill off the Y chromosome. Sometimes it wins, and then the species dies off. The Y chromosome is full of these battle scars, and there are species of butterflies which are 99% female and are about to go extinct because of it.
Wasn’t there a species of boar that evolved to have suicide tusks? Like, the females overwhelming preferred longer, curved tusks, eventually leading the species to grow their tusks into their skull or something?
Yeah if you overeat or overkill in your domain you may wipe out your food source and die.
Interesting point, but seems like it would still fall under the evolution aspect. If the predator is too efficient then there is less food supply. So the ones with fastest metabolism will not make it. The longer you can go without eating – the more likely you are to survive and breed.
Great Example would be alligators. They are perfect predators with virtually no natural enemy. Yet they can go years without eating.
Yes. One thing to also remember is as the predator population kills the majority of the prey population, the size of the predator population will decrease because they don’t have enough food. When the population of the predators becomes small enough, the prey is able to thrive and overpopulate(because no one is hunting them) and this leads to the predators thriving because of an overabundance of prey and the cycle repeats over and over. It is a really delicate balance.
House cats are furry little slaughter houses. They can easily thrill-kill themselves out of food
I think it was Charles Darwin that had an interesting analogy of this situation with a concept of introducing wolves to an imaginary island of rabbits. The wolves would prosper hunting with reckless abandon until the rabbits had died out, ensuring their own end as well as they’ve over consumed their only food source.
Hyper successful predators seem to actually have a quite profound evolutionary disadvantage in this regard.
Humans have done this on a few occasions. Easter Island springs to mind.
Hey OP. If you haven’t already, check out a little novel called “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn. It’s a whimsical and uncomplicated conversation between a guy and a gorilla that orbits and murmurs about many great and fascinating questions about predators, prey, and snacks – including the one you’ve just asked. You’d like it.
It’s believed that this is what happened to the saber tooth tiger. The fangs were a specialty hunting tool that made them specialized to hunt one specific prey…which they hunted to extinction.
Well, we humans are still here, but we seem determined to wipe ourselves out.
Predators can mutate being extra large, which makes it so their food needs are too great and thus they starve