Their teeth can be up to three times longer than those of a normal salamander. Researchers have found that cannibal morphs develop when salamander larvae are crowded in large numbers and not related to one another. Experiments suggest that fellow salamanders may make the most nutritious meals. Cane toads are another amphibian that fattens up through cannibalism. The tadpoles of cane toads, when given a choice between cane toad eggs and similar-looking eggs of other frog species, actually prefer to dine on their own kind.
In this case, cannibalism helps the tadpoles grow up big and strong and cuts down on future competition.
Cane toads aren't safe from cannibalism after metamorphosis, either. Another study found that bigger cane toads wiggle the middle toes of their hind feet to lure younger cane toads close enough to be eaten. Researchers found that in a sample of 28 cane toads, 64 percent of their diet was made up of other cane toads. A sloth bear named Khali, housed at the National Zoo, made the news last year for devouring two of her own cubs. A third was removed to be hand-raised by keepers before it met the same fate.
Mothers eating their young can occur due to stress, or when the young is stillborn or weak. This behavior can also benefit the mother. A study of Mexican lance-headed rattlesnakes showed that 68 percent of new mothers cannibalized all or part of their non-surviving offspring. They likely eat them to recover nutrients after giving birth to get ready to reproduce again. Even the most devoted mothers may sometimes eat their young. Laurence Culot described a rare instance of maternal cannibalism in moustached tamarins in the wild in Peru.
Culot and his colleagues watched as a mother tamarin foraged for fruit with her adult daughter and infant son. Suddenly, the mother bit through her baby's skull and ate out its brain. Once the mother had eaten the entire head, her adult daughter feasted on the carcass.
The larvae of several varieties of ladybugs, including two-spot ladybugs, eat ladybug eggs that have yet to hatch their own siblings , reported the BBC. Research has shown that ladybug larvae who eat their unhatched family members develop faster than non-cannibal larvae.
Ducklings over a month old are most likely to exhibit this tendency. Ducklings are said to exhibit cannibalistic behavior when they are bored or aggravated by overcrowding, a lack of ventilation, or poor nutrition. Chickens have a social hierarchy — it's literally a pecking order — yet chicken cannibalism is not an uncommon occurrence.
Chickens have been known to peck, tear, and even consume the skin, tissue, and organs of others in a flock. Although cannibalism among chickens and other types of poultry is more common in certain breeds , the aggressive behavior can also be limited and controlled via preventative measures. These include giving chickens plenty of space to avoid overcrowding, making sure water and food resources are available, and giving chickens a way to avoid too much sunlight.
Chickens should get a maximum 16 hours of light, artificial or otherwise, per day. As cannibalism is a learned behavior for chickens , it can spread through a flock. Cannibalistic members of this breed have been found to have bigger skulls than their non-cannibal counterparts. They also typically have enlarged teeth. These morphed salamanders have been found to eat smaller members of their species every now and again, all in the name of eliminating competition for valuable resources.
Researchers have found that cannibalism in this species seems to happen most frequently in areas with a high density of the salamanders.
Male red squirrels commit infanticide and cannibalism. The pups are often killed and eaten by nearby male squirrels who are typically not the father. Interestingly, the infanticide occurs most often when food has been plentiful. According to National Geographic , that's because female squirrels are more likely to have a second litter in years when more food is available.
Since female squirrels have multiple mating partners before the first round of breeding, killing that initial litter allows a male to ensure the second litter will be only his.
For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. Given the female sand tiger shark is prone to mating with a number of different males, a study reckons this grisly ritual helps produce the strongest offspring, and significantly boosts its size making much more likely to survive once born. Dyeing poison frogs make one of the more bizarre parental choices in the animal kingdom, leaving their new tadpoles in pools filled with older, hungrier members of their own species, ones that are more than happy to take a bite out of their little brothers.
The logic behind encouraging such sibling rivalry is that given the older taddies have successfully grown, the pool itself must be conducive to life, whereas an empty pool might not have the necessary conditions for the tadpoles to metamorphose into frogs. And you thought your older brother was unnecessarily mean to you! Planet of the Apes might have been a work of fiction, but in the real world warring primates will engage in some morbid activities that will make even the most seasoned of horror buffs squirm.
The esteemed British primatologist Jane Goodall recorded chimpanzees eating other chimps back in , but since then there have been numerous documented examples of cannibalism among the great apes, with reasons ranging from nutrition, survival and perhaps even insurrection.
Modern cannibal animals seem almost civilised compared the Orthacanthus shark, which swam around steamy jungles of equatorial coal forests some million years ago. What makes this even more unusual is that hippos are herbivores! When times are tough and nutrition is hard to come by, they are left with little option but to eat whatever they find, including their own species.
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