McKillup S C, McKillup R V
Department of Biology, University of Central Queensland, 4702, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.
Oecologia. 1994 Feb;97(1):41-48. doi: 10.1007/BF00317907.
Recent theoretical models have considered how nutritional status and predation risk affect the decision by an individual to forage. We consider the feeding behaviour of a scavenger under risk of predation. The intertidal gastropod Nassarius dorsatus Röding was used to test the following hypotheses: (1) a damaged conspecific should be a less preferred meal than a damaged predator or another species; (2) a scavenger should be able to discriminate between a damaged conspecific in the presence and one in the absence of its predator, preferring the latter; and (3) the decision by a scavenger to feed should reflect a trade-off between nutritional status and the above preferences. Results from the laboratory and field were consistent with predictions. Two hypotheses are suggested from the work: scavengers may generally be less willing to feed on carcases of conspecifics than on those of other species, and intertidal scavengers may commonly face a relative or absolute shortage of food.
近期的理论模型探讨了营养状况和被捕食风险如何影响个体的觅食决策。我们研究了一种食腐动物在被捕食风险下的摄食行为。利用潮间带腹足纲动物背纹玉螺（Nassarius dorsatus Röding）来检验以下假设：（1）相较于受损的捕食者或其他物种，受损的同种个体应是较不被偏好的食物；（2）食腐动物应能够区分在有捕食者存在时和无捕食者存在时的受损同种个体，更偏好后者；（3）食腐动物的摄食决策应反映营养状况与上述偏好之间的权衡。实验室和野外的结果与预测一致。该研究提出了两个假设：食腐动物通常可能比其他物种更不愿意取食同种个体的尸体，并且潮间带食腐动物可能普遍面临相对或绝对的食物短缺。
