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The great skua is an aerial apex predator, both preying on other seabirds and bullying them for their catches. [8] Apex predators affect prey species' population dynamics and populations of other predators, both in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Non-native predatory fish, for instance, have sometimes devastated formerly dominant predators.
The gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America.This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (Urocyon littoralis) of the California Channel Islands, are the only living members of the genus Urocyon, which is considered to be genetically sister to all other living canids.
Since 2010, however, red foxes have been accounted-for on Tasmania. On the mainland, the species was successful as an apex predator, with the absence of numerous large, mammalian carnivores (excepting dingoes, which occasionally hunt the foxes).
Juvenile red foxes are known as kits. Males are called tods or dogs, females are called vixens, and young are known as cubs or kits. [14] Although the Arctic fox has a small native population in northern Scandinavia, and while the corsac fox's range extends into European Russia, the red fox is the only fox native to Western Europe, and so is simply called "the fox" in colloquial British English.
A Mesopredator is a predator that occupies a mid-ranking trophic level in a food web. [1] There is no standard definition of a mesopredator, but mesopredators are usually medium-sized carnivorous or omnivorous animals, such as raccoons, foxes, or coyotes. [2] [3] They are often defined by contrast from apex predators or prey in a particular ...
Foxes have been introduced in numerous locations, with varying effects on indigenous flora and fauna. [39] In some countries, foxes are major predators of rabbits and hens. Population oscillations of these two species were the first nonlinear oscillation studied and led to the derivation of the Lotka–Volterra equation. [40] [41]
In size-selective predation, predators select prey of a certain size. [81] Large prey may prove troublesome for a predator, while small prey might prove hard to find and in any case provide less of a reward. This has led to a correlation between the size of predators and their prey. Size may also act as a refuge for large prey. For example ...
Red foxes make up 13.5% of nest remains in Sicily and 5.9% in the Republic of Macedonia. [119] Among red foxes, juveniles are usually targeted as prey, though golden eagles can kill foxes of any age or condition, including fully grown red foxes heavier than the eagles themselves.