Editing Biological interaction (section)

==== Predation ====

{{main|Predation}}

In predation, one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. Predators are adapted and often highly specialized for hunting, with acute senses such as [[eye|vision]], [[hearing]], or [[olfaction|smell]]. Many predatory animals, both [[vertebrate]] and [[invertebrate]], have sharp [[claw]]s or [[jaw]]s to grip, kill, and cut up their prey. Other adaptations include stealth and [[aggressive mimicry]] that improve hunting efficiency. Predation has a powerful [[selection pressure|selective effect]] on prey, causing them to develop [[antipredator adaptation]]s such as [[aposematism|warning coloration]], [[alarm call]]s and other [[signalling theory|signals]], [[camouflage]] and defensive spines and chemicals.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bar-Yam |title=Predator-Prey Relationships |url=http://necsi.edu/projects/evolution/co-evolution/pred-prey/co-evolution_predator.html |publisher=New England Complex Systems Institute |access-date=7 September 2018}}</ref><ref name="RSM2012">{{cite web |title=Predator & Prey: Adaptations |url=https://royalsaskmuseum.ca/pub/Lesson%20Plans/Resources/Predator%20and%20Prey%20Adaptations.pdf |publisher=Royal Saskatchewan Museum |access-date=19 April 2018 |date=2012 |archive-date=3 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403131659/http://royalsaskmuseum.ca/pub/Lesson%20Plans/Resources/Predator%20and%20Prey%20Adaptations.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vermeij |first=Geerat J. |title=Evolution and Escalation: An Ecological History of Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3pCQ6ks5PEC&pg=PR11 |year=1993 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-00080-0 |pages=11 and passim}}</ref> Predation has been a major driver of evolution since at least the [[Cambrian]] period.<ref name="Bengtson2002">{{cite book |author=Bengtson, S. |year=2002 |contribution=Origins and early evolution of predation |title=The fossil record of predation. The Paleontological Society Papers 8 |editor-last1=Kowalewski |editor-first1=M. |editor-last2=Kelley |editor-first2=P. H. |pages=289–317 |publisher=The Paleontological Society |url=http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e32c81078a8d9249800021552/Bengtson2002predation.pdf}}</ref>