The Time Has Come (Goo Goo G’joob)
What would this majestic moustachioed walrus like to eat? And how would it go about it? If you know your Lewis Carroll (or Disney classics), you might have a decent guess.
Bananas Eat You (Not Really)
Some species get their food while performing an important ecosystem service. Breaking down dead and decaying material can reduce disease transmission and return nutrients back into the system. One such animal is a brightly colored slug named after a yellow fruit.
Don’t Bathe With These
Sponges have several defenses that make them an uncommon food source in a coral reef environment. However, there are a few species they will consume them, and even focus on them as the primary aspect of their diet.
Getting a Koala-ty Diet
Major ecological changes can cause a shift in diet and foraging behaviors. This is the case for the koala, a native of Australia with highly specialized diet. Eucalyptus is not necessarily an ideal food source, but climatic changes made it much more abundant, making it a viable option.
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
Some feeding strategies can seem more passive than others. Filter feeding seems like easy-mode, but it can actually be much more complex, especially because it still costs energy to perform.
Look Before You Leap
Powered flight is one of the strongest adaptations that has ever occurred. It has advantages on both defense and offense against animals that are only able to travel on the ground. But some cats have developed ways to go after flying animals, adding them to their diet.
Digging In
Some diet choices can seem a bit bizarre, or even counterintuitive. Certain animals will even eat non-nutritious substances. What reason could there be for such a behavior?
A Finch in a Pinch
Because of their isolated nature, islands are hotbeds of evolutionary change. One of the most celebrated examples of speciation to adapt to different diets is the finches of the Galapagos Islands, described by Charles Darwin in 'On the Origin of Species'.
You Are What You Eat
The diet of each organism has developed over millions of years of evolution and a relationship between it and its environment. A variety of strategies and diets exist and we'll be covering some of the most interesting ones.
Here’s Looking at You, Kid
We've seen organisms that mimic other species and those that mimic their own, but we're finishing up with a defensive strategy of mimicking oneself, making one part of the body look like a different part.