Why haven't the majority of predators evolved to look like their prey?

Question

Wouldn't it be benificial for a preditor to mimic his prey allowing him to get very close before they realise they are in danger.

I'm suprised that this isn't a very common occurence in nature... It seems like the natural way to go.

I'm suprised that there aren't predators who for example look just like a deer. Surely that would be benifial, I mean who runs from a deer?- no one.

Answer 1

How could an eagle look like a mouse? Or a tiger look like a gazelle? I don't think you have thought that through properly.

Answer 2

probably because they would look as vunerable as their prey

Answer 3

a very good idea, but there are 2 problems with this

1 - is that if you start to look like your prey, then you may run the risk of being hunted as prey too.

For example, if a lion was to evolve to look more like a zebra, and it went along and mingled with the zebras, to other predators, like other lions and other species, it would just look like a zebra. when all the zebras started to run, the lion would need to run with them because if it stayed put, it would easily be singled out by the predators.

2 - The REALLY BIG problem with this model, is that the mimicking species will become totally dependant on the survival of the species it is mimicking. So it is a self harming model and hence not a very good way forward for natural selection. This is because a mimicking species, with such an advantage can drive the other species to extinction and when this happens, they no longer have an advantage and hence either need to develop another advantage (which takes a long time), or more than likely, become extict themselves - and  this is why we dont see this as commonplace in nature.  

saying that, there is a fish that can switch colours to be able to mimic its prey. but it has the advantage of being able to switch this off at will and possibly has a variable setting to aid adaption. see: http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pf...

So, in answer to your question, it is benficial, but only if the mimicking can be controlled as to adapt to changes in their environment (i.e. extinction of targetted prey)

Answer 4

lol... these questions are funny.  did you ever stop to consider that most predators don't really have a problem chasing prey.  there are many many many animals in the world that chase prey and seem to be doing okay.

this is up there with saying 'why don't humans evolve two hearts so that when one goes bad, they have a backup'  or 'why don't humans evolve wings because that would be so cool'

Answer 5

They'd end up attacking and killing each other

Thus less breeding would be going on within their species

And they'd evolve away from looking like prey

I'm guessin'

Answer 6

because they wouldn't know which other deer are predators too. So they would all end up killing eachother, then there would be none left.

Answer 7

lol.... I think you should be given a prize for the single most stooooooopid question this week. Evolution has obviously given you the brain of a gerbil... thanks for the laugh though. Absolute height of stupidity...wonderful. : ) You should be analysed.

Answer 8

Because a predator would most likely be a carnivore and they require different musculature and teeth . A carnivore that looked like a deer would not be able to track, take down and consume a deer.

Answer 9

Well - for one thing, the prey are evolving too. So they'd evolve a method of evading that particular tactic (like smelling the differences, or evolving a yet different body-shape).

And for another - how would the predator be able to distinguish between prey and other-predator-disguised-as-prey? They'd end up eating each other: not a very successful strategy.

Answer 10

the idea is to be better than your prey

Answer 11

Compound issue.

The straightaway answer is that the intermediate stages might not bring any benefit. A tiger in a deer livery would lose the camouflage advantage of the stripes; a tiger with the bodily proportions of a deer would lose any territorial fight to another tiger.

Remember that the major source of competition for an individual are its own fellows. A deer competes with a tiger for its own flesh, but competes with other deers for *everything* - food, water sources, territory, females.

Furthermore, no predator could fool a herbivore worth its salt - meat eaters *stink* and deers would learn quickly enough to stay the heck away from deers that smell like a rotten carcass.

Furthermore, most predators are *already* capable of getting very close before the prey realise they're in danger. You sound like you've never seen a cat stalking a bird, or a polar bear waiting for a seal near its breathing hole. Would there be benefits for polar bears if they looked like seals? The Inuits would make short work of both species.

Not to mention then the specular event - why don't preys look like predators then?

I like Bax's answer: why aren't predators metamorphic? Mmh, I think I just had the idea for a sci-fi novel...

Answer 12

Because a predator needs to be able to take out its prey hence claws, teeth, powerful muscles etc. If it looked like its prey it wouldnt have the advantages of a predator and probably wouldnt be able to catch, kill and eat its dinner. Lots of predators use camoflage to get close to prey, but I cant think of any that actually look like their dinner!

Answer 13

how does a deer lunge after and kill prey?

there are still certain things it need to actually prey upon it's prey

it's better to blend into it's surroundings while still maintaing predatory features (thick skill, broad chest, powerful arms, claws etc..)

also once that ONE prey item (which it would be restricted to) dies out.. so does the species

Answer 14

1. because they would eat eachother

2. if were that easy to catch prey..they would easily over hunt their sustainable balance and will eventually starve

Answer 15

Mimcry works in smaller creatures and those that use venom, but not in larger animals.  To kill prey, predators need more than just to get close and to look like their prey.  For one thing they'd need to smell like their prey - meat eaters and plant eaters have very different body odours due to their diets (cats smell very different from rabbits for example).  Predators also need a killing mechanism such as strong teeth and they need both claws and strength to hang onto the prey.  That means they need more powerful muscles to carry and power those things and that's a barrier to mimicking the prey because all the attributes of a predator immediately make it look different.

Over millions of years, ambush hunting and co-operative hunting turned out to be more efficient.   If predators evolved that looked like deer, deer would evolve to run away from other deer.  The deer body shape is all wrong for predators - hooves are good for running, but not good for holding onto prey; a deer's head is the right shape for eating vegetation, but totally the wrong shape for having meat-slicing teeth or fangs; a predator needs a thicker more muscular head and neck than a deer in order to hold onto prey.

Answer 16

They would have trouble distinguishing between prey and kin.

Answer 17

that would be cool but scary, what you think would be a cute little kitten could turn out to be a savage pit bull

Answer 18

suppose nature started with every genetic make-up wanting to create a body that would benefit itself and be as advantagous as possible over the other. so we have different animals with their genetic make up making them the way they are. evolution in large animals (unlike microscopic sized life) would take very very long time to have a significant physical evolutionary difference anyway. but say that, the predator, as you say, evolved to look as closely as possible to their prey. the prey (lets call them deers) the deers will basically like you said, not know what hit them, and the predator wins. all those predators who did not evolve as such, would starve because the deer-lookalike gets most of the share. and those deers that are unaware of whats happening will not survive. so balance is , deer-lookalikes are higher in number than the deers until of course, those surviving "smart" deers find a way to recognise the "disguise". they will continue to survive and breed and produce offspring that will also learn to distinguish between prey / deers / deer lookalikes ( similar thing happens with some birds who lay their eggs in other bird species' nests thus saving themselves time and energy and leaving the poor bird to look after an extra child that is not even its species! but the birds later evolved to recognise false eggs and throw it over the nest...) also, the deer-lookalikes may also not survive very long because if there were no smart deers , then all the deers would become extinct :-P. and then theyr stuck looking like deers for a very long time...and then those surviving preys that did not evolve may mistake the deer-lookalikes for real deers and hunt them down...oops...

Answer 19

Couple of points here, a few of them have already been covered. I would mention only those haven't come out so far.

a)I am not sure how many of the predators feed on only one kind of prey. What i have known & understood is each predator has a few primary preys (which can differ with seasonal cycle as well) & some secondary preys. So choosing to look alike one single prey is a tricky problem which probably even nature hasn't been able to resolve fully yet. Though i assume nature already has a better solution for this in some of the existing species. There are species of  predators like scuttlefish, octupusses that can mimic more than one prey/predator & thus can nourish/find protection on/from a wider variety of animals.

b) Other reason is of survial & propagation. Consider, species that do have a predator & prey relationship within their own specie, how big are the chances of survival in such species for the offsprings. Even though such species might have emerged out of nature's own experiments they wouldn't have lasted long.  And as we understand the nature's natural flow is towards propagation & balance such traits aren't aligned with the 'bigger plan' & would soonn disappear in the very next correction cycle that nature sets into.

Answer 20

1. Because prey aren't fooled on looks alone.   The predator would also have to smell like the prey, make sounds like the prey, move like the prey, etc. etc.

BTW, if there's one thing a carnivore can't disguise, it's the *SMELL* of a meat eater!

2. Because predators have more than one prey ... so which does it start mimicing?   So if a lion evolves to look more like a thompson's gazelle, that doesn't help it catch wildebeestes or rabbits.

3. Because all the things that make a predator look like a predator are the very things that allow it to *kill* the prey if it can catch it.   Claws instead of hoofs, jaws built for power, muscle structure built for short bursts of speed and massive strength.  Any slow evolution away from those things, would make a less-effective predator ... natural selection just would not allow it.

Even the way the eyes are oriented are *completely* different in carnivores.  Predators have eyes in the front of their head as they are designed for focusing on prey.   Prey have eyes in the sides of their heads and are designed for peripheral vision.