Temporal partitioning of activity in large African carnivores: tests of multiple hypotheses
Africa’s large predator guild (lion, Panthera leo; leopard, Panthera pardus; spotted hyaena, Crocuta crocuta; cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, and African wild dog, Lycaon pictus) occurs sympatrically with high dietary overlap. Temporal partitioning could facilitate coexistence, but there has been no study testing this or the factors that may Influence the evolution of predator activity patterns. The […]
Implications of sensory ecology for species coexistence: biased perception links predator diversity to prey size distribution
Inherent to sensory systems is a discrepancy between the perceived and the actual environment. We modelled prey perception in different species of echolocating bats and show that differences in sensory systems can be important for shaping the niches of animals and for structuring animal communities. We argue that sensory specialization can lower interspecific competition by […]