Title

Can Prey Use Dietary Cues To Distinguish Predators? A Test Involving Three Terrestrial Amphibians

Keywords

Amphibians; Antipredator behavior; Dietary cues; Predator avoidance

Abstract

Prey animals may enhance their fitness by avoiding predators, but unnecessary responses to predators that pose little threat may be maladaptive. Dietary cues from predators may be used by prey individuals to identify "dangerous" predators (i.e., those that have been feeding on conspecific prey), and consequently to minimize needless reactions to cues from innocuous animals. We tested for the presence of diet-mediated antipredator responses in a terrestrial system involving wandering garter snake predators (Thamnophis elegans) and amphibian prey (spotted frogs, Rana luteiventris; long-toed salamanders, Ambystoma macrodactylum; and Pacific tree frogs, Pseudacris regilla). Wild-caught prey were exposed to cues from predators fed heterospecific (worm) versus conspecific diets in two-sided behavioral arenas, and patterns of selection for particular sides of the arena were assessed. We found that none of the amphibian prey species responded to differences in the diet of their predator, but two species avoided cues associated with injured conspecifics. These results suggest that some amphibians lack the capacity to distinguish between "dangerous" and "safe" predators, possibly due to historically low levels of predation, or because their predators possess the ability to break down or mask cues allowing for such discrimination. However, given that our experimental protocol tested for a single metric of predation risk reduction (i.e., behavioral avoidance), further analyses will be required to determine whether diet-dependent antipredator behavior is largely absent from this predator-prey system. © 2005 by The Herpetologists' League, Inc.

Publication Date

12-1-2005

Publication Title

Herpetologica

Volume

61

Issue

2

Number of Pages

104-110

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1655/04-47

Socpus ID

33751561423 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/33751561423

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