Re: lions, chimps and sticks
H. M. Hubey (hubey@pegasus.montclair.edu)
10 Oct 1995 04:28:39 -0400
herwin@gmu.edu (Harry Erwin) writes:
>predator on chimps is the leopard. BTW, neither lion nor leopard predation
>acts as a significant population control mechanism for _any_ herbivorous
>species in the Serengeti. The primary population control mechanism is
>disease, followed by accident and old age.
This could really be the answer to the predation problem.
If there were so many more of the other herbivorous animals
than the proto-hominids, then perhaps they could get around
and get by simply because there was not enough of a predator
population to go after them since they would have all
been satiated by eating so many of the other freely available
prey animals.
Of course, there's the usual down side. If there were so many
prey available, unless their rate of increase outstripped
that of the predators sooner or later the Lotka-Volterra
oscillations would take effect and the predators would
be scrounging for all they could find; and probably would
find our courageous little wimps.. ahem proto-chimps and
proto-humans.
--
Regards, Mark
http://www.smns.montclair.edu/~hubey
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