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Concept
Cannibalism
Summary
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, both in ancient and in recent times.
The rate of cannibalism increases in nutritionally poor environments as individuals turn to members of their own species as an additional food source. Cannibalism regulates population numbers, whereby resources such as food, shelter and territory become more readily available with the decrease of potential competition. Although it may benefit the individual, it has been shown that the presence of cannibalism decreases the expected survival rate of the whole population and increases the risk of consuming a relative. Other negative effects may include the increased risk of pathogen transmission as the encounter rate of hosts increases. Cannibalism, however, does not—as once believed—occur only as a result of extreme food shortage or of artificial/unnatural conditions, but may also occur under natural conditions in a variety of species.
Cannibalism is prevalent in aquatic ecosystems, in which up to approximately 90% of the organisms engage in cannibalistic activity at some point in their life-cycle. Cannibalism is not restricted to carnivorous species: it also occurs in herbivores and in detritivores. Sexual cannibalism normally involves the consumption of the male by the female individual before, during or after copulation. Other forms of cannibalism include size-structured cannibalism and intrauterine cannibalism.
Behavioral, physiological and morphological adaptations have evolved to decrease the rate of cannibalism in individual species.
In environments where food availability is constrained, individuals can receive extra nutrition and energy if they use members of their own species, also known as conspecifics, as an additional food source. This would, in turn, increase the survival rate of the cannibal and thus provide an evolutionary advantage in environments where food is scarce.
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