Evolutionary Psychology - Foraging

• Maximize food encounter rate
• Optimize rate of food intake within and across patches
• Optimize food choices (what to eat)
• Optimize how to eat

• Distributing according to where the food is
• E.g 5x as much food means 5x as many organisms

Crowding at good quality food source increases until it equilibrates with lower quality food source

• If food is spatially uniform and temporally predictable - Forage alone
• If food is clumped and temporally unpredictable - Forage in groups

About 4 (or so)

A solitary hunter or small group of hunters in a small range

• A large group of hunters in a large range
• More cooperation

• Monopolize resource access
• Reduce competition
• Easier searching

• When resources are economically defendable
• Intermediate quality resources (too high quality means too much competition)

• Stay at a food patch until the quality drops below average
• High travel between patches encourages longer residence time

Ignore low quality food options when better ones are available

• Energy value
• Encounter rate
• Handling/processing time

Profitability of prey = Energy / Handling time

No, swapping is entirely dependent on the 'good' prey encounter ratE

• Proteins
• Carbohydrates
• Fat

Vitamins, minerals, trace elements

• Fruit
• Leaves
• Flowers
• Saps/Gums

Byproduct of eating fruit

Antimicrobial effects

Low quality high abundance food

Mental representation of an item that helps find it in future

Hippocampus

Symbiotic relationship with another organism

• Simple prey: 2-5 members
• Difficult prey: Lots of members

Predator resembles non-threatening third part

• Jumping spiders
• Female fireflies
• Mermaids and Sirens