Apex predator

From Freepedia

(Redirected from Top-level predator)

Apex predators (also alpha predators or superpredators) are predators that are not themselves preyed upon as a species in the wild. These animals are often at the end of long food chains, where they have a crucial role in maintaining and determining the health of ecosystems. Even if not dangerous to man, they are formidable predators in their respective niches.

Apex predators often have a special place in human culture and they have come to represent aspects of nature that humans find important and often appear in heraldry. The eagle was the symbol of the Roman Empire and is the animal symbol of the United States of America; a lion has so served ancient Assyria and modern Great Britain; bears have symbolized Russia for centuries despite revolutionary changes. Some, such as tigers and lions are hunted by humans for trophies or used in Chinese medicine. Two apex predators are often human companions: dogs and cats exist mostly as pets; the talents that these two creatures show as hunters are either useful in their own right or make them adept at interacting with humans. Humans also qualify as apex predators.

Even the most efficient of these creatures (man excepted) have difficult ecological niches to fill; any loss of abilities makes them vulnerable to other predators, even of their own species, and starvation. Disappearance of their usual prey often leads to their demise as populations. Such toxic substances in the food chain as DDT and mercury often concentrate in apex predators to the detriment of reproduction to an extent impossible in creatures lower in the food chain.

Complete list of apex predators

Extinct superpredators include the dinosaurs Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex; among mammals the sabertooth tigers, and the marsupial Thylacine, the last known specimen of which died in 1939.

External links

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