Kin discrimination was tested in the cannibalistic H. tigerinus tadpoles to know whether cannibalism is selectively directed towards non-kin members or it is indiscriminate. The association choice tests were conducted using satiated as well as starved subjects with the assumption that they will associate near non-sibs rather than near sibs with the intention of preferentially cannibalizing them...

Direct evidence of prey choice in carnivorous dinosaurs is rare in the fossil record. The most celebrated example pertains to purported stomach contents in the carnivorous dinosaur Coelophysis bauri, which besides revealing prey choice, also points to cannibalistic behaviour as being commonplace (Colbert 1989, 1995). Here, we test this hypothesis by conducting the first comprehensive anatomical...

Direct and indirect interactions between two prey species can strongly alter the dynamics of predator-prey systems. Most predators are cannibalistic, and as a consequence, even systems with only one predator and one prey include two prey types: conspecifics and heterospecifics. The effects of the complex direct and indirect interactions that emerge in such cannibalistic systems are still poorly...

Benefits of size dimorphism and copulatory silk wrapping in the sexually cannibalistic nursery web spider, Pisaurina mira" (2016). Eileen Hebets Publications. Paper 54. For most males, reproductive success is dependent on the ability to acquire mates and successfully fertilize a female's eggs [1,2]. Research across diverse animal taxa has documented elaborate courtship displays and seemingly co...

New work in Caenorhabditis elegans shows that during embryogenesis endodermal cells interact with and regulate primordial germ cells by actively excising and digesting germ cell lobes. Endodermal cells utilize proteins linked to endocytosis to perform this unique 'cannibalistic' process.

A cannibal has to weigh the benefits of the consumption and removal of competing conspecifics against the potential loss of fitness through filial cannibalism. We examined the role of the presence of conspecific females in informing adaptive cannibalism decisions. Females of the hemipteran bug Geocoris pallens express low egg cannibalism when alone but become much more cannibalistic in the pres...