Final?-Escape Mechanisms of Costa Rican Animals

This discussion topic submitted by Brian Coy ( coybe@muohio.edu) at 5:52 pm on 4/19/00. Additions were last made on Wednesday, April 19, 2000.


Means of escaping danger is perhaps the most important action an animal can possess. Different animals rely on different means to escape similar situations safely. My goal through this project is to compare and contrast different means of survival within different animal groups, focusing specifically on camouflage, warning coloration and mimicry. I believe this to be an interesting topic because it is beneficial for us (being the experts ecologists we are) to gain a better understanding of survival and how it varies between varying levels of the food chain. Does survival methods vary considerably between different classes? This is a primary question I have and hopefully I will be able to determine a sound answer by presentation time.

Here is a general outline of my paper:

Intro:
-discuss importance of survival
-discuss natural selection as both predators and prey
-introduce camouflage, warning coloration and mimicry
-correlate uses of survival with natural selection

Body:
-discuss how each method is unique to its species for survival
-discuss how no particular method is more valuable than the other

Point 1:
-discuss camouflage
-give examples of various camouflaged animals

Point 2:
-discuss mimicry
-give examples of various animals that use mimicry

Point 3:
-discuss warning colorization
-give examples

Conclusion:
-discuss again how importance of each method varies on species and niches of species; ex. (mimicry of praying mantus benefits it the most because of its particular lifestyle)
-show how survival methods and natural selection favor both predators and prey
-conclude



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It is 9:28:16 PM on Saturday, July 5, 2008. Last Update: Wednesday, April 19, 2000