Asymptotic prey profitability drives star-nosed moles to the foraging speed limit

Kenneth C. Catania () and Fiona E. Remple
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Kenneth C. Catania: Vanderbilt University
Fiona E. Remple: Vanderbilt University

Nature, 2005, vol. 433, issue 7025, 519-522

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03250

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