Predators and prey at Higher Level: The same statement as SL. HL questions often use data from experiments on predator and prey behaviour: reading control results, comparing curves and judging error bars.
Practise this as you read
- Classify adaptations as chemical, physical or behavioural.
- Analyse data on predator-prey behaviour.
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The big idea: Predators have chemical, physical and behavioural adaptations for finding, catching and killing their prey.
The points to remember
- Chemical: venom to kill or paralyse; a keen sense of smell to find prey.
- Physical: forward-facing eyes, sharp talons, claws or teeth, long legs and beaks, speed.
- Behavioural: hunting in packs, ambushing, stalking, hunting when prey are active.
Real example: the barn owl. Barn owls hunt in the dark: their dish-shaped face funnels sound to ears set at different heights, so they can pinpoint a mouse by hearing alone, and soft feathers make their flight almost silent.
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The big idea: Prey resist predation with chemical, physical and behavioural adaptations: they avoid being found, caught or eaten.
The points to remember
- Chemical: toxins or foul tastes, often with warning colours.
- Physical: camouflage, spines, shells, mimicry of a dangerous species.
- Behavioural: vigilance, alarm calls, living in groups, signals such as stotting.
Remember it as: Sort every adaptation: chemical, physical or behavioural?
Real example: stotting gazelles. Thomson's gazelles that spot a cheetah often stot, leaping stiff-legged into the air; cheetahs are less likely to chase a gazelle that stots, perhaps because it signals that it is fit and will be hard to catch.
Trap: Classify carefully: looking like a bee is physical; feeding among bees is behavioural.
How it is asked: Expect an adaptation of a named predator or prey, classifying adaptations as chemical, physical or behavioural, or data from an experiment on predator and prey behaviour.
Suggest three ways in which a small bird feeding on the ground can reduce its risk of being eaten.
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See the answer broken into clear points, with guidance on how each point earns marks.