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PLoS Biology Issue Image | Vol. 5(9) September 2007

A rotifer (Brachionus calyciflorus).

The rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, shown here under Nomarski illumination, exhibits predator-prey cycles with an algal species; so does the phage T4 with bacteria. When the prey/host can evolve anti-predation/pathogen defense, prey genotype frequencies cycle with predator density. Cryptic prey cycles occur when changes in prey genotypes counterbalance each other so that the total prey density remains constant while predator density oscillates (see Yoshida et al., e235).

Image Credit: Takehito Yoshida and Randy O. Wayne

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A rotifer (Brachionus calyciflorus).

The rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, shown here under Nomarski illumination, exhibits predator-prey cycles with an algal species; so does the phage T4 with bacteria. When the prey/host can evolve anti-predation/pathogen defense, prey genotype frequencies cycle with predator density. Cryptic prey cycles occur when changes in prey genotypes counterbalance each other so that the total prey density remains constant while predator density oscillates (see Yoshida et al., e235).

Image Credit: Takehito Yoshida and Randy O. Wayne

https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pbio.v05.i09.g001