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Predation

All articles tagged with #predation

Giant beaked octopuses stalked the Cretaceous seas
science8 days ago

Giant beaked octopuses stalked the Cretaceous seas

A 2026 Science study analyzed 27 Late Cretaceous fossil jaws from Japan and Vancouver Island, estimating Nanaimoteuthis haggarti could reach about 7–19 meters (roughly 100–72 million years ago). The findings suggest giant, active, finned octopuses that could hunt hard prey and occupy a top predatory tier in ancient oceans, challenging the view that vertebrates dominated ancient marine ecosystems. Exact full-body size remains uncertain since conclusions are based on jaws rather than complete skeletons.

via Space Daily|
#beaks#cretaceous#nanaimoteuthis
Tiny Wall-Dwelling Spider Hunts Prey Six Times Its Size
science2 months ago

Tiny Wall-Dwelling Spider Hunts Prey Six Times Its Size

A newly identified spider species, Pikelinia floydmuraria, about 3–4 mm long, lives in urban wall crevices in southern Brazil and can capture prey up to six times its size, often near artificial lights that attract insects like mosquitoes and flies; described in Zoosystematics and Evolution, the discovery sheds light on the ecology of the Pikelinia genus, with DNA studies needed to clarify its evolutionary relationships.

via The Daily Galaxy|
#pikelinia-floydmuraria#predation#science
Ancient Crinoids Hide Buckminsterfullerene-Like Spheres in Their Skeletons
science2 months ago

Ancient Crinoids Hide Buckminsterfullerene-Like Spheres in Their Skeletons

Researchers found spherical, ball-like skeletal arrangements in 80-million-year-old crinoid fossils (Marsupites testudinarius and Uintacrinus socialis) that resemble buckminsterfullerene structures, suggesting these shapes helped with protection and buoyancy in predator-rich ancient oceans. The design appears across wide fossil deposits but vanished in later species, leaving scientists with questions about why the form disappeared.

via The Daily Galaxy|
#buckminsterfullerene#buoyancy#crinoids
Ruling the Reefs: 19-Meter Cretaceous Kraken Unearthed
science2 months ago

Ruling the Reefs: 19-Meter Cretaceous Kraken Unearthed

A Science study using Digital Fossil Mining reveals Nanaimoteuthis haggarti giant octopuses, potentially up to 19 meters, as apex predators in the Late Cretaceous, with beaks found in rocks and wear patterns on jaws suggesting hard-shell/bone crushing and possibly advanced cognition, indicating invertebrates shared top-predator status with mosasaurs and other marine reptiles.

via Ars Technica|
#cretaceous#digital-fossil-mining#giant-octopus
Ancient Pterosaur Likely Chased Land Prey in 106-Million-Year-Old Tracks
science2 months ago

Ancient Pterosaur Likely Chased Land Prey in 106-Million-Year-Old Tracks

South Korean researchers describe a 106-million-year-old scene from fossil footprints showing a large pterosaur (likely a neoazhdarchian) moving on all fours to pursue a small prey animal, possibly a salamander or lizard. The trace suggests a terrestrial stalking event and a possible predation encounter, with the fossilized signatures leading to a new ichnogenus and species, Jinjuichnus procerus, though definitive predation cannot be proven.

via ScienceAlert|
#fossil-footprints#jinjuichnus-procerus#neoazhdarchians
Cave raid: camera traps reveal 14 predators raiding a 40,000-bat roost in Uganda
science2 months ago

Cave raid: camera traps reveal 14 predators raiding a 40,000-bat roost in Uganda

Scientists in Uganda used camera traps at Python Cave to document 14 predators—leopards, blue monkeys, eagles and more—preying on about 40,000 Egyptian fruit bats that roost there, a known Marburg virus reservoir. The footage, published in Current Biology, shows unprecedented predation behaviors and could help explain how filoviruses spill over between species and how some animals might resist infection, while also highlighting human exposure risks near the roost and calling for stricter bat ecotourism rules.

via BBC Wildlife Magazine|
#egyptian-fruit-bat#marburg-virus#predation
Tooth in Skull Reveals Rare T. rex Attack on Edmontosaurus
science3 months ago

Tooth in Skull Reveals Rare T. rex Attack on Edmontosaurus

Paleontologists describe a nearly complete Edmontosaurus skull with a Tyrannosaurus tooth embedded in its snout and bite marks suggesting a fatal, close-range encounter. CT analysis indicates the tooth broke off during the attack, with the Edmontosaurus unlikely to survive; size estimates point to an adult T. rex with about a 1-meter-long skull. The find provides rare direct fossil evidence of predation and feeding behavior in large theropods, showing T. rex likely hunted and scavenged during its life.

via ScienceAlert|
#bite-marks#edmontosaurus#paleontology
Rare Fox Attack on Wolf Pup Captured on Camera
science4 months ago

Rare Fox Attack on Wolf Pup Captured on Camera

Researchers in Italy captured on video the first-known instance of a red fox entering a wolf den, grabbing a wolf pup and likely killing it—an opportunistic attack that shows mesocarnivores can directly affect an apex predator’s reproductive success; the incident occurred while adult wolves were away hunting, and the den was later relocated, though it’s unclear how common such interactions are.

via Gizmodo|
#fox#predation#science
Tooth-marked orca fins hint cannibalism shapes tight-knit pods
science4 months ago

Tooth-marked orca fins hint cannibalism shapes tight-knit pods

Live Science reports two washed-up orca dorsal fins from southern resident orcas found on Russia’s Bering Island, each bearing distinctive killer-whale tooth marks. Genetic testing links the fins to southern residents, while researchers say mammal-eating Bigg’s killer whales may have preyed on them, suggesting occasional cannibalism. The study posits that predation pressure by Bigg’s could help explain why resident, fish-eating orcas form large, protective family groups, though some scientists urge caution and note scavenging or other explanations could account for the marks.

via Live Science|
#biggs-killer-whales#cannibalism#orcas
Optimal oyster reef geometry boosts recruit survival by mitigating predators
environment4 months ago

Optimal oyster reef geometry boosts recruit survival by mitigating predators

The study shows that oyster recruit survival is maximized not just by surface area but by specific 3D reef architectures. By creating 16 artificial habitats that span fractal dimension and height range and testing them with and without predator access across three estuaries, researchers found a hump-shaped recruitment response driven by predator mediation. Optimal values (fractaI dimension ~2.41, height ~7.96 cm) yielded ~35% higher oyster densities than less favorable configurations, and natural reefs clustered near these optima, offering a blueprint for restoration that integrates geometry with ecosystem engineering to enhance reef persistence.

via Nature|
#environment#fractal-dimension#habitat-complexity
Juvenile Sauropods Fueled Jurassic Predators, New Ecological Web Reveals
science5 months ago

Juvenile Sauropods Fueled Jurassic Predators, New Ecological Web Reveals

Reconstructing a detailed Jurassic ecosystem from Dry Mesa Quarry fossils shows that baby sauropods were abundant prey, forming many predator links and feeding carnivores like Allosaurus and Torvosaurus. This plentiful supply may have kept top predators smaller for a time and influenced later evolutionary shifts toward larger hunters such as Tyrannosaurus rex.

via ScienceAlert|
#food-web#jurassic#paleoecology