Open AccessA recipe for scavenging in vertebrates – the natural history of a behaviour
Author(s) -
Kane Adam,
Healy Kevin,
Guillerme Thomas,
Ruxton Graeme D.,
Jackson Andrew L.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
ecography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.973
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1600-0587
pISSN - 0906-7590
DOI - 10.1111/ecog.02817
Subject(s) - scavenging , foraging , ecology , recipe , natural (archaeology) , vertebrate , scale (ratio) , biology , geography , paleontology , archaeology , biochemistry , antioxidant , cartography , gene
Despite its prevalence, the importance of scavenging to carnivores is difficult to ascertain in modern day forms and impossible to study directly in extinct species. Yet, there are certain intrinsic and environmental features of a species that push it towards a scavenging lifestyle. These can be thought of as some of the principal parameters in optimal foraging theory namely, encounter rate and handling time. We use these components to highlight the morphologies and environments that would have been conducive to scavenging over geological time by focusing on the dominant vertebrate groups of the land, sea and air. The result is a synthesis on the natural history of scavenging. The features that make up our qualitative scale of scavenging can be applied to any given species and allow us to judge the likely importance of this foraging behaviour.