It has been said that it’s a bug-eat-bug world. Although in the circle of life, it’s probably more accurate to say that it’s a bird-eat-bug world. No matter how you phrase it, nature is full of heterotrophic organisms that need to consume other organisms in order to survive. Being eaten can have a significant negative impact on your fitness (your reproductive success, not your ability to climb Mt Everest or run a marathon). At the end of the day, the organisms/species that have the largest number of healthy offspring win, so it is not surprising that over evolutionary time, many adaptations have evolved that provide a way for organisms to avoid being eaten. Some types of defensive mechanisms include body modification (a.k.a. spines or thorns), chemical warfare (a.k.a. venom or poison), and defensive behaviors (a.k.a. running, hiding, or forming social groups). 

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