Biomechanics of predator–prey arms race in lion, zebra, cheetah and impala

Wilson, A M; Hubel, T Y; Wilshin, S D; Lowe, J C; Lorenc, M; Dewhirst, O P; Bartlam-Brooks, H L A; Diack, R A; Bennitt, E; Golabek, K A; Woledge, R; McNutt, J W; Curtin, N A; West, T G

doi:10.1038/nature25479

Biomechanics of predator–prey arms race in lion, zebra, cheetah and impala

Wilson, A M; Hubel, T Y; Wilshin, S D; Lowe, J C; Lorenc, M; Dewhirst, O P; Bartlam-Brooks, H L A; Diack, R A; Bennitt, E; Golabek, K A; Woledge, R; McNutt, J W; Curtin, N A; West, T G

Authors

A M Wilson

T Y Hubel

S D Wilshin

J C Lowe

M Lorenc

O P Dewhirst

H L A Bartlam-Brooks

R A Diack

E Bennitt

K A Golabek

R Woledge

J W McNutt

N A Curtin

T G West

Abstract

The fastest and most manoeuvrable terrestrial animals are found in savannah habitats, where predators chase and capture running prey. Hunt outcome and success rate are critical to survival, so both predator and prey should evolve to be faster and/or more manoeuvrable. Here we compare locomotor characteristics in two pursuit predator–prey pairs, lion–zebra and cheetah–impala, in their natural savannah habitat in Botswana. We show that although cheetahs and impalas were universally more athletic than lions and zebras in terms of speed, acceleration and turning, within each predator–prey pair, the predators had 20% higher muscle fibre power than prey, 37% greater acceleration and 72% greater deceleration capacity than their prey. We simulated hunt dynamics with these data and showed that hunts at lower speeds enable prey to use their maximum manoeuvring capacity and favour prey survival, and that the predator needs to be more athletic than its prey to sustain a viable success rate.

Citation

Wilson, A. M., Hubel, T. Y., Wilshin, S. D., Lowe, J. C., Lorenc, M., Dewhirst, O. P., Bartlam-Brooks, H. L. A., Diack, R. A., Bennitt, E., Golabek, K. A., Woledge, R., McNutt, J. W., Curtin, N. A., & West, T. G. (2018). Biomechanics of predator–prey arms race in lion, zebra, cheetah and impala. Nature, 554(7691), 183+. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25479

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 2, 2018
Publication Date	Feb 8, 2018
Deposit Date	Jan 27, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Aug 8, 2018
Journal	Nature
Print ISSN	0028-0836
Electronic ISSN	1476-4687
Publisher	Nature Research
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	554
Issue	7691
Pages	183+
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25479
Public URL	https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1388794