3 February 2005
A nose for the kill
Prey profitability — the ratio of energy gained to handling time for an item of prey — is a central component of behavioural ecology. Most prey handling times last minutes or seconds, but the star-nosed mole is top dog. It can identify and eat a piece of prey in 120 milliseconds. To achieve the feat it has become one of nature's oddest animals, with stellar face, strange teeth and a nervous system tuned for speed. This evolutionary journey is explained by an unusually strong, 'runaway' selection for speed caused by increasing prey profitability for the fastest eaters. The moles can use their speed to exploit big resources (of small invertebrates) that for other animals are literally a waste of time.
Asymptotic prey profitability drives star-nosed moles to the foraging speed limit
KENNETH C. CATANIA & FIONA E. REMPLE
Nature 433, 519–522 (2005); doi:10.1038/nature03250
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