Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators

The dynamics of predator-prey pursuit appears complex, making the development of a framework explaining predator and prey strategies problematic. We develop a model for terrestrial, cursorial predators to examine how animal mass modulates predator and prey trajectories and affects best strategies fo...

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Main Authors:	Rory P Wilson, Iwan W Griffiths, Michael GL Mills, Chris Carbone, John W Wilson, David M Scantlebury
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2015-08-01
Series:	eLife
Subjects:	cheetah megacarnivores pursuit predators
Online Access:	https://elifesciences.org/articles/06487

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spelling	doaj-b7e974c8514b4525a92957288493cac12021-05-04T23:57:10ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2015-08-01410.7554/eLife.06487Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predatorsRory P Wilson0Iwan W Griffiths1Michael GL Mills2Chris Carbone3John W Wilson4David M Scantlebury5Swansea Lab for Animal Movement, Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, WalesCollege of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, WalesThe Lewis Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa; Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomInstitute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, United KingdomDepartment of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South AfricaSchool of Biological Sciences, Institute for Global Food Security, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United KingdomThe dynamics of predator-prey pursuit appears complex, making the development of a framework explaining predator and prey strategies problematic. We develop a model for terrestrial, cursorial predators to examine how animal mass modulates predator and prey trajectories and affects best strategies for both parties. We incorporated the maximum speed-mass relationship with an explanation of why larger animals should have greater turn radii; the forces needed to turn scale linearly with mass whereas the maximum forces an animal can exert scale to a 2/3 power law. This clarifies why in a meta-analysis, we found a preponderance of predator/prey mass ratios that minimized the turn radii of predators compared to their prey. It also explained why acceleration data from wild cheetahs pursuing different prey showed different cornering behaviour with prey type. The outcome of predator prey pursuits thus depends critically on mass effects and the ability of animals to time turns precisely.https://elifesciences.org/articles/06487cheetahmegacarnivorespursuit predators
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Rory P Wilson Iwan W Griffiths Michael GL Mills Chris Carbone John W Wilson David M Scantlebury
spellingShingle	Rory P Wilson Iwan W Griffiths Michael GL Mills Chris Carbone John W Wilson David M Scantlebury Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators eLife cheetah megacarnivores pursuit predators
author_facet	Rory P Wilson Iwan W Griffiths Michael GL Mills Chris Carbone John W Wilson David M Scantlebury
author_sort	Rory P Wilson
title	Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators
title_short	Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators
title_full	Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators
title_fullStr	Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators
title_full_unstemmed	Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators
title_sort	mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators
publisher	eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
series	eLife
issn	2050-084X
publishDate	2015-08-01
description	The dynamics of predator-prey pursuit appears complex, making the development of a framework explaining predator and prey strategies problematic. We develop a model for terrestrial, cursorial predators to examine how animal mass modulates predator and prey trajectories and affects best strategies for both parties. We incorporated the maximum speed-mass relationship with an explanation of why larger animals should have greater turn radii; the forces needed to turn scale linearly with mass whereas the maximum forces an animal can exert scale to a 2/3 power law. This clarifies why in a meta-analysis, we found a preponderance of predator/prey mass ratios that minimized the turn radii of predators compared to their prey. It also explained why acceleration data from wild cheetahs pursuing different prey showed different cornering behaviour with prey type. The outcome of predator prey pursuits thus depends critically on mass effects and the ability of animals to time turns precisely.
topic	cheetah megacarnivores pursuit predators
url	https://elifesciences.org/articles/06487
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Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators

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