Cannibalism in the animal kingdom -

Bill Schutt
In the deserts of the American Southwest, spadefoot toad tadpoles
hatch in tiny oases. Until they develop into toadlets, they can’t
survive outside of water, but these ponds are transient and quickly
evaporate. The tadpoles are in a race against the clock to grow up
before their nurseries disappear. So nearly overnight, some of the
brood explode in size. They use their jack-o-lantern teeth and huge
jaw muscles to devour their smaller pond mates. Nourished by this
extra fuel, they develop quicker, leaving the pond before it can dry
out. The spadefoot toad is far from the only animal to eat members
of its own species as a normal part of its life cycle. All of these
animals do. If that surprises you, you’re in good company. Until
recently, scientists thought cannibalism was a rare response to
starvation or other extreme stress. Well-known cannibals, like the
praying mantis and black widow spider, were considered bizarre
exceptions. But now, we know they more or less represent the rule.
While it may seem counterproductive for members of the same
species to eat each other, cannibalism can promote the survival of
the species as a whole by reducing competition, culling the weak,
and bolstering the strong. Some species, like the spadefoot toad,
cannibalize in response to environmental pressures. Their situation
is precarious, but cannibalism for them isn’t a last-ditch attempt to
avoid starvation. Rather, it’s a way to more quickly outgrow a stage
where they’re especially vulnerable to predation or dangerous
environmental conditions. Other species, including many fish,
indiscriminately cannibalize each other during foraging behavior.
Fish produce large numbers of tiny young, and adults exhibit about
as much individual recognition of their offspring as humans do for a
handful of raisins. Fish eggs, larvae, and juveniles are easily
available, nutrient-rich meals, and with thousands of eggs in a
clutch, plenty are still available to hatch after the adults have
snacked. Baby fish aren’t just at risk of being cannibalized by
adults—siblings eat each other too. Sand tiger shark eggs develop
and hatch inside their mother’s oviducts at different times. When
the hatchlings run out of yolk from their own eggs, they eat the
other eggs and hatchlings until one baby shark from each oviduct
remains. When they emerge, the young sharks are well-nourished,
experienced predators who stand a better chance of surviving. Even
when they aren’t consumed for nutrition, young animals are
especially vulnerable to cannibalism. Hamsters, rats, and other
rodent mothers will eat some of their Young if they’re sick, dead, or
simply too numerous to feed. In other mammals, including bears
and lions, males will kill offspring sired by another. That’s because
childless females become receptive to mating more quickly than if
they were caring for a cub. Rather than waste nutritious meat, the
males then eat the dead cubs. Meanwhile, cannibalism is less
common in birds than in other groups, but certain species will eat
diseased or dead hatchlings as a way of disposing of the bodies
before they can attract maggots. When adults eat each other,
males are cannibalized more often than females, usually during
mating and generally because they’re smaller. Male Australian
redback spiders mate with much larger females. Rather than
scrambling away after mating, the tiny male does a somersault,
bringing his abdomen into contact with his mate’s mouthparts. The
female showers him with enzyme-rich gut juice and consumes his
abdomen. Males not killed in the initial mating crawl back into the
fray, often half-eaten, to mate again, after which they’re
dispatched to the spider pantry. So not only does the male provide
the female with his sperm, but he also provides her with a
nutritious meal to better ensure that she’ll survive to pass on his
genes. All in all, it’s clear that cannibalism is as much a part of life in
the animal kingdom as other, better-recognized behaviors. As we
sink our teeth into the evidence of cannibalism in nature, we might
ask ourselves, what else have we missed by applying human
standards to the natural world?