In Illinois, all the top predators, such as the grey wolf, cougar, and American black bear, are extinct. Prey animals need predators to help keep their populations healthy too. The graph below shows that snowy owls on one island in Canada only nested in years with large numbers of lemmings. Snowy owls will only reproduce if lemming populations are large enough for the owls to have enough food to feed both themselves and their chicks. The changes in the lemming population affect the predators that rely on them for food. This cycle repeats every three to four years. Without the moss, the lemmings starve and the population crashes. When lemming populations become too large, they consume all of the moss that is their food. Lemming populations go through cycles of growth and decline. Changes in one population will result in changes in the other.Ī well-studied predator-prey relationship is that of the snowy owl and the lemmings, a type of rodent, that are their prey.

The relationships between predator and prey animals make up the delicate balance that is part of an ecosystem.

Predator species that are not prey for any other animals are known as the top predator. Many predators may even be prey for larger predators.

Prey animals are species that are food for other animals known as predators. Many species have niches where they serve as food for other species. The Predators hunt humans because it’s fun, and they deliberately spread Xenomorphs around the universe for their ceremonial Blooding Ritual, but a Predalien is a creature that the Yautja hate with every ounce of their being–making it their ultimate prey.Different species have different roles or niches in the ecosystem so that they do not compete for the same resources. While the Predalien is essentially just a regular Xenomorph that has been amped-up to Predator-level strength, its deadliness isn’t why the Predalien is the Predators’ ultimate prey, it’s because it is against Predator religion to allow one to even exist. As revealed in this issue, the existence of a Predalien is actually against the Yautja’s religion, as they believe in a cosmic balance of hunters and prey, with Xenomorphs being the Yin to Predators' proverbial Yang, and the fusion of the two is regarded as an unholy abomination that must be destroyed immediately. This gave the Predalien its iconic design, and while it is a cool-looking ultimate killer, the Predalien is an affront to everything the Predators believe in and stand for. Usually, Xenomorphs are born from humans, which is why they look the way they do in most Alien media–but this time, a Xenomorph was born from a Predator, so it therefore took on some of the Yautja’s physical attributes. As it turned out, the Predator the soldiers abducted was impregnated with a Xenomorph, and before long, this host’s purpose was served and the first Predalien was born.ĭuring its gestation, a Xenomorph will take on traits of its host in a process known as DNA Reflex. The Colonial Marines are suddenly surrounded by the deadliest creatures in the cosmos–though they were about to be attacked by something even deadlier. Unfortunately, this Predator wasn’t the only alien in the ship, as there was also a Queen Xenomorph and an entire chamber filled with Ovomorphs–not to mention the other Xenomorphs that were also lurking in the shadows of this make-shift hive. Inside this ship was an unconscious and obviously injured Predator, so the Colonial Marines grabbed him and brought him back to their ship, patting themselves on the back for actually obtaining an alien specimen of this caliber. When they got there, all they found was the chaos that was left in the Predators’ wake–though the soldiers did find one thing of note: a Predator ship. In Aliens vs Predator: Duel by Randy Stradley and Javier Saltares, a team of Colonial Marines are deployed to a far-off world to see if there were any remnants of useful material following a Predator attack on a human settlement roughly one year earlier.

Predator vs prey and humans