advantage of an animal with a varied diet to a species which has a specified diet?

Question

explain why an animal species with a varied diet may have an advantage over a species with a more specialized diet

Answer 1

An animal that eats lots of things has the advantage because there is just more the animal can have and therefor more oportunity to eat to survive. An animal with a specific diet has a bigger chance of dying due to lack of food sources

Answer 2

An organism with a varied diet is called a generalist because it is generally willing to eat about anything. An advantage to being a generalist comes when a food source is limited. The generalist will switch which food it is eating or what percentage of its diet is made up of that food source.

A species with a specialied diet is called a specialist. These organisms are normally very adept at eating their food source and normally their body has adapted to eat that food source (think anteater).

The generalist has the advantage over the specialist when they eat a shared food source which for some reason goes dry. The generalist will change what it is eating and the specilaist will starve.

Answer 3

The animal with a varied diet will not always have an advantage over one with a specified diet.

Generalists, like humans, cockroaches, rats and raccoons have been very successful because they can eat almost anything - guaranteeing that no matter where they are, they can find something to live on.

But in environmental conditions where the food of a specialist is abundant, the specialist may well have a large advantage in that ecosystem over a generalist. Specialists tend to be very, very good at obtaining whatever food it is they specialize on.

Answer 4

They are not dependent for their survival on something which might die off leaving them without food. Think of pandas which eat only bamboo and what will happen if the bamboo in their habitats were to fail (as was predicted about a year ago).

Generalists can always find another food source and can adopt to changes in climate, plant die offs, prey-species failures, and other disasters just by changing their food habits.