What Is A predator ?

Question

My friend needs to know!

Answer 1

pred·a·tor (prĕd'ə-tər, -tôr') pronunciation
n.

1. An organism that lives by preying on other organisms.
2. One that victimizes, plunders, or destroys, especially for one's own gain.

Answer 2

Hi Gorgeous,

Apex predators (also alpha predators, superpredators, or top-level predators) are predators that, as adults, are not normally preyed upon in the wild in significant parts of their ranges. Some can be superpredators in some environments but not others (e.g., domestic cats). These species are often at the end of long food chains, where they have a crucial role in maintaining and determining the health of ecosystems. Even those not dangerous to humans (e.g., owls) are formidable predators in their respective niches.

Obvious examples include such potential or documented man-eaters as the sperm whale, orca, leopard seal, Komodo dragon, big cats, bears, crocodilians, hyenas, wolves, and giant snakes, creatures of fearsome reputation to humans, and some of extreme efficiency (eagles, hawks, and owls) against which small prey have no defense other than flight and cover. Some are top predators in limited niches (the Baikal seal and river dolphins). Some are supremely formidable singly (tiger); some are consummate social predators (lions). Most are formidable defenders of themselves and their young. Humans, if not strict vegetarians, are the definitive superpredators throughout most of their range, especially if armed; so are dogs if large, attack-trained, or hunting with humans. The use of tools (firearms, fishing rods, boats, clubs, spears, motor vehicles, and aircraft) and even other animals (dogs, horses, and cormorants) in predation makes humans as formidable as any predator that has ever existed.

Danger to humans does not in itself qualify a creature as a superpredator. Such non-predators as elephants and hippopotamus) cannot be considered superpredators even if they are even deadlier to humans than are lions. A strictly-predatory rattlesnake, for example, is prey for sundry killers, including kingsnakes, cats, pigs, and sundry birds. The infamous Portuguese Man O'War and box jellyfish are food for some sea turtles. Even so, a king cobra qualifies because any potential predator avoids it, as does the deep-sea and polar Lion's mane jellyfish existing outside the usual range of sea turtles. In all but a few parts of its range, the snapping turtle, which can inflict a painful and destructive (but not lethal) bite upon a human or dog, qualifies because no creature can pierce its shell.

Size would seem an advantage; a raptor bird that might take a Yorkshire terrier would never challenge a Rottweiler, even if both dog breeds are within the same species. Thus a Yorkshire terrier is not a superpredator, but a Great Dane is a superpredator in most environments. Huge numbers, ferocity, and excellent organization establish fire ants and driver ants as superpredators; no creature is likely to get a significant part of its diet by preying upon such ants.

In the strictest sense, such infamous predators as the Great White Shark, the hammerhead shark, the Bull Shark, the oceanic whitetip shark, and the mako shark fall short because they are preyed upon by orcas that exist throughout their ranges. The bottlenose dolphin, less infamous than the sharks but one that can perform hyperpredation upon shoals of fish, is in the same class as the sharks as a near-apex predator because it is prey for orcas but generally holds its own against sharks.

Due to their placement atop the food chain, many (but not all) apex predators are also keystone predators. For example, the gray wolf is both an apex predator and a keystone predator, as it keeps populations of deer, caribou, hares, and beavers in control.[citation needed] On the other hand, the Great White Shark is an apex predator but not a keystone predator; it has not been demonstrated to regulate prey species within the ecosystem.

Good luck telling your friend

Answer 3

A perdator is an animal who is hunting another animal.

Prey is the animal the predator is after

Like a cougar is the predator

and the sheep it is stalking is his prey

Answer 4

A predator is a name for those who consume (by eating or otherwise) somebody else. This word is also used for individuals who like to have sexual contacts with minors.

Answer 5

If you are talking people then a predator is a stalker or a person that is trying to harm you...stay a way from sexual predators...those people are dangerouse

Answer 6

that would be an anamal that hunts for its food. Like the Lion and Tiger or the Croc and gator.

Answer 7

An animal that hunts other animals for food. The animals it hunts are called its prey.

Answer 8

an organism that preys on other organisms