Snail susceptibility to crab predation: A case study of co-evolution from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa
نویسنده
چکیده
Co-evolution has been invoked as an explanation for Lake Tanganyika’s unusual endemic fauna. The crabs Platytelphusa armata and Potamonautes platynotus are molluscivores, found in the same habitats as the gastropods Lavigeria coronata, L. grandis, and L. nassa (West & Cohen 1994). As these are the largest gastropods in the Lavigeria species flock, and often the most exposed, we are determining whether shell size and sculpture provides protection from predation. We are also attempting to reveal the effectiveness of chela morphology among crab predators. The fine details of the predator-prey relationships will link the ecological processes with their potential evolutionary patterns.
منابع مشابه
Interspecific differences in snail susceptibility to crab predation at Jakobsen’s Beach, Lake Tanganyika
The robust crushing chelae of durophagous crabs in Lake Tanganyika and the heavily calcified and ornate shells of endemic thiarid gastropods have been identified as highly derived coevolutionary adaptations to predator-prey interactions between the two taxa (West and Cohen 1994, West et al. 1991). There is a striking diversity of adaptations among gastropods in the lake that signal the evolutio...
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