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===Capture=== To capture prey, predators have a spectrum of pursuit modes that range from overt chase (''[[pursuit predation]]'') to a sudden strike on nearby prey (''[[ambush predator|ambush predation]]'').<ref name=Kramer2001/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scharf |first1=Inon |last2=Nulman |first2=Einat |last3=Ovadia |first3=Ofer |last4=Bouskila |first4=Amos |date=September 2006 |title=Efficiency evaluation of two competing foraging modes under different conditions |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=168 |issue=3 |pages=350โ357 |doi=10.1086/506921 |pmid=16947110|bibcode=2006ANat..168..350S |s2cid=13809116 }}</ref><ref name=Stevens2010>{{cite journal |author=Stevens, Alison N. P. |date=2010 |title=Predation, Herbivory, and Parasitism |journal=Nature Education Knowledge |volume=3 |issue=10 |page=36 |url=https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/predation-herbivory-and-parasitism-13261134}}</ref> Another strategy in between ambush and pursuit is ''ballistic interception'', where a predator observes and predicts a prey's motion and then launches its attack accordingly.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> ====Ambush==== {{main|Ambush predation}} {{multiple image | align = right | image1 = Western Green Lizard.jpg | width1 = 200 | alt1 = | caption1 = [[Western green lizard]] [[ambush predator|ambushes]] its [[grasshopper]] prey. | image2 = Sydney-brown-trapdoor-spider 002.jpg | width2 = 155 | alt2 = | caption2 = A [[trapdoor spider]] waiting in its burrow to ambush its prey | footer = }} Ambush or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture prey by stealth or surprise. In animals, ambush predation is characterized by the predator's scanning the environment from a concealed position until a prey is spotted, and then rapidly executing a fixed surprise attack.<ref name=deVries>{{cite journal |author=deVries, M. S. |author2=Murphy, E. A. K. |author3=Patek S. N. |title=Strike mechanics of an ambush predator: the spearing mantis shrimp |year=2012 |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=215 |issue=Pt 24 |pages=4374โ4384 |doi=10.1242/jeb.075317 |pmid=23175528 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012JExpB.215.4374D }}</ref><ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Vertebrate ambush predators include frogs, fish such as the [[angel shark]], the [[northern pike]] and the [[eastern frogfish]].<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/><ref name="WhosWho">{{cite web |url=http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=1&id=87&cid=8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518235841/http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=1&id=87&cid=8 |archive-date=18 May 2007 |title=Cougar |website=Hinterland Who's Who |access-date=22 May 2007 |publisher=[[Canadian Wildlife Service]] and [[Canadian Wildlife Federation]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pikes (Esocidae) |url=https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-pikes.pdf |publisher=Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife |access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref><ref name=fishes>{{cite web |last1=Bray |first1=Dianne |title=Eastern Frogfish, Batrachomoeus dubius |url=http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2835 |website=Fishes of Australia |access-date=14 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914181407/http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2835 |archive-date=14 September 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Among the many invertebrate ambush predators are [[trapdoor spider]]s and [[Thomisus spectabilis|Australian Crab spiders]] on land and [[mantis shrimp]]s in the sea.<ref name=deVries/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Liphistius |title=Trapdoor spiders |publisher=BBC |access-date=12 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_trapdoor_spider.php|access-date=12 December 2014 |title=Trapdoor spider |publisher=[[Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum]] |year=2014}}</ref> Ambush predators often construct a burrow in which to hide, improving concealment at the cost of reducing their field of vision. Some ambush predators also use lures to attract prey within striking range.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> The capturing movement has to be rapid to trap the prey, given that the attack is not modifiable once launched.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> {{anchor|Ballistic}} ====Ballistic interception==== {{multiple image | align = right | image1 = Chameleon gab fbi.png | width1 = 220 | caption1 = Tongue, adapted for prey capture | image2 = Chameleon-Stage 03.jpg | width2 = 185 | caption2 = Capturing a fly at a distance | footer = The [[chameleon]] attacks prey by shooting out its sticky tongue. }} Ballistic interception is the strategy where a predator observes the movement of a prey, predicts its motion, works out an interception path, and then attacks the prey on that path. This differs from ambush predation in that the predator adjusts its attack according to how the prey is moving.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Ballistic interception involves a brief period for planning, giving the prey an opportunity to escape. Some frogs wait until snakes have begun their strike before jumping, reducing the time available to the snake to recalibrate its attack, and maximising the angular adjustment that the snake would need to make to intercept the frog in real time.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Ballistic predators include insects such as dragonflies, and vertebrates such as [[archerfish]] (attacking with a jet of water), [[chameleon]]s (attacking with their tongues), and some [[Colubridae|colubrid snakes]].<ref name="MooreBiewener2015">{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Talia Y. |last2=Biewener |first2=Andrew A. |title=Outrun or Outmaneuver: PredatorโPrey Interactions as a Model System for Integrating Biomechanical Studies in a Broader Ecological and Evolutionary Context |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume=55 |issue=6 |pages=1188โ97 |date=2015 |doi=10.1093/icb/icv074 |pmid=26117833 |doi-access=free}}</ref> ====Pursuit==== {{main|Pursuit predation}} {{multiple image | align = right | image1 = Whales Bubble Net Feeding-edit1.jpg | width1 = 200 | alt1 = | caption1 = [[Humpback whale]]s are lunge feeders, filtering thousands of [[krill]] from seawater and swallowing them alive. | image2 = Gomphus vulgatissimus with a prey 002.jpg | width2 = 188 | alt2 = | caption2 = [[Dragonfly|Dragonflies]], like this [[Gomphus vulgatissimus|common clubtail]] with captured prey, are invertebrate [[Pursuit predation|pursuit predators]]. | footer = }} In pursuit predation, predators chase fleeing prey. If the prey flees in a straight line, capture depends only on the predator's being faster than the prey.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> If the prey manoeuvres by turning as it flees, the predator must react in real time to calculate and follow a new intercept path, such as by [[parallel navigation]], as it closes on the prey.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Many pursuit predators use camouflage to approach the prey as close as possible unobserved (''stalking'') before starting the pursuit.<ref name="MooreBiewener2015"/> Pursuit predators include terrestrial mammals such as humans, African wild dogs, spotted hyenas and wolves; marine predators such as dolphins, orcas and many predatory fishes, such as tuna;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gazda |first1=S. K. |last2=Connor |first2=R. C. |last3=Edgar |first3=R. K. |last4=Cox |first4=F. |year=2005 |title=A division of labour with role specialization in group-hunting bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off Cedar Key, Florida |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society |volume=272 |issue=1559 |pages=135โ140 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2004.2937 |pmid=15695203 |pmc=1634948}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Tyus |first=Harold M. |title=Ecology and Conservation of Fishes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2fNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA233 |year=2011 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4398-9759-1 |page=233}}</ref> predatory birds (raptors) such as falcons; and insects such as [[dragonfly|dragonflies]].<ref name=Combes>{{cite journal |last1=Combes |first1=S. A. |last2=Salcedo |first2=M. K. |last3=Pandit |first3=M. M. |last4=Iwasaki |first4=J. M. |year=2013 |title=Capture Success and Efficiency of Dragonflies Pursuing Different Types of Prey |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume= 53 |issue=5 |pages=787โ798 |doi=10.1093/icb/ict072 |pmid=23784698 |doi-access=free }}</ref> An extreme form of pursuit is [[Persistence hunting|endurance or persistence hunting]], in which the predator tires out the prey by following it over a long distance, sometimes for hours at a time. The method is used by human [[hunter-gatherer]]s and by [[Canidae|canids]] such as [[African wild dog]]s and domestic hounds. The African wild dog is an extreme persistence predator, tiring out individual prey by following them for many miles at relatively low speed.<ref name="HubelMyattJordanDewhirst2016">{{cite journal |last1=Hubel |first1=Tatjana Y. |last2=Myatt |first2=Julia P. |last3=Jordan |first3=Neil R. |last4=Dewhirst |first4=Oliver P. |last5=McNutt |first5=J. Weldon |last6=Wilson |first6=Alan M. |title=Energy cost and return for hunting in African wild dogs |journal=Nature Communications |volume=7 | date=29 March 2016 |doi=10.1038/ncomms11034 |pmid=27023457 |pmc=4820543 | page=11034 |quote=Cursorial hunting strategies range from one extreme of transient acceleration, power and speed to the other extreme of persistence and endurance with prey being fatigued to facilitate capture.Dogs and humans are considered to rely on endurance rather than outright speed and manoeuvrability for success when hunting cursorially.}}</ref> A specialised form of pursuit predation is the [[lunge feed]]ing of [[baleen whale]]s. These very large marine predators feed on [[plankton]], especially [[krill]], diving and actively swimming into concentrations of plankton, and then taking a huge gulp of water and [[Filter feeder|filtering]] it through their feathery [[baleen]] plates.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldbogen |first1=J. A. |last2=Calambokidis |first2=J. |last3=Shadwick |first3=R. E. |last4=Oleson |first4=E. M. |last5=McDonald |first5=M. A. |last6=Hildebrand |first6=J. A. |year=2006 |title=Kinematics of foraging dives and lunge-feeding in fin whales |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=209 |issue=7 |pages=1231โ1244 |doi=10.1242/jeb.02135 |pmid=16547295 | s2cid=17923052 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2006JExpB.209.1231G }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sanders |first1=Jon G. |last2=Beichman |first2=Annabel C. |last3=Roman |first3=Joe |last4=Scott |first4=Jarrod J. |last5=Emerson |first5=David |last6=McCarthy |first6=James J. |last7=Girguis |first7=Peter R. |author7-link=Peter Girguis |year=2015 |title=Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |journal=Nature Communications |volume=6 |pages=8285 |doi=10.1038/ncomms9285 |pmid=26393325 |pmc=4595633 |bibcode=2015NatCo...6.8285S}}</ref> Pursuit predators may be [[Social predator|social]], like the lion and wolf that hunt in groups, or solitary.<ref name=LaffertyKuris2002/><!--Ambush predators are often solitary.-->
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