Domino Quartz's Delightfully Quaint Random Banter Thread #248

[Metastachydium]

they don't always wait to be antagonized, and when there's a non-zero chance of eating the thing you killed later the lines are murky.

Active defense is still just that: defence.

Yeah not every herbivore is like... an obligate "must eat only fruit or die" herbivore. Omnivorous behavior pops up where need, opportunity, accident, and free meat exist, after all. That, plus the fact that herbivores are by necessity more fierce and more prone to fighting than predators, means things like hippos and elephants are gonna **** your **** up worse than any predator if you go in with the idea of being a threat.

That doesn't mean they're like, apex predators, cause that's a very defined term, but it does mean they're a high rung creature in their environment. Hippos aren't indestructible despite how infamously deadly they actually are, and no amount of stompies is going to stop the occasional crocogator from eating one. Elephants are a bit more "apex" in that regard and even then they do get downed and eaten as well. It's how things go and all that.

All this is to say; "apex predator" is a very defined term, but even that isn't like, fully concrete- but it still doesn't really apply to like, hard to fell herbivores, because the operative word is "predator" here.

(to elaborate the "accident" part about; many deer and horses do end up chomping down on smaller prey species because they're just kinda in the way of their eating. Deer especially doesn't mind this since they can actually process meat fairly well, given a big aspect of their existence is devouring the bloody vellum of their own discarded horns.)

Yep yep.

Well for one, predatory behavior correlates with intelligence. For two, IRL the only confirmed sapient life form to exit is an omnivorous apex predator.

It used to be, perhaps. You lot got way too lazy to do that.

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I KNEW IT!

I know that sharks are predators.

Debatable. Whale sharks and basking sharks come to mind.

Listen, sometimes the key to success is in how you define success

Not just sometimes. In military terms, victory is purely a matter of achieving objectives, be them tactical, operational or strategic.

Isn't there also something about how big brains cost a lot of energy, and predation/meat-eating is a great way to get those calories "efficiently"?

Murderizing something that can just run away requires a bit more creativity than what the herbivorous scum does for a living.

OH. MAN. I love oddball correlations. I love how this dude is still at it.

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I see PATTERNS emerging.

Speaking solely for myself, i not only am excited for synthesized meats, but i also wouldn't mind synthesized fruits snd vegetables either. Can't imagine it being economical, but short version, i would be all about the Star Trek replicator for ethical consumption.

You are a Good Dragon.

♣

As for the whole strategic dietary perfection thing, predatory behavioyur is overrated. ANYTHING THAT CAN'T MAKE ITS OWN NUTRIENTS FROM INORGANIC MATTER AND AMBIENT ENERGY IS A LOSER.