Herbivores Vs Carnivores

The variation between animals is a naturally occurring phenomenon that is a ramification of genetic deviation. As a result of this, animals can gain certain traits that help them become more favorable in their environment however, in the process of them becoming more favorable in one trait they can also lose or become less favorable to another trait (Slater et al. 2009). These nonrandom vicissitudes in allele frequency are caused by sexual selection or natural selection and over a period of time can cause adaptations in animals (Schussler 2014). Moreover, mammal skulls are an interesting entity of how animals have adapted over time as a result of natural and sexual selection. Mammals have selected a variety of traits over time such as protection
The hypotheses that was tested in this experiment was diet explicitly comparing between herbivores and carnivores will determine eye size and mandible length. The null hypothesis for this experiment is that there will be no difference in jaw length and eye length when comparing carnivores and herbivores. The prediction for this experiment is that herbivores will have larger eye diameter in order to locate predators and carnivores will have shorter stronger jaws because they require a more forceful bite power. This prediction is based upon the fact that animals with a herbivore diet do not require a strong bite power. However, animals with a carnivore diet require a stronger shorter jaw because they must be able to bite and consume a bigger prey. In addition, our prediction on eye size came from the fact that herbivores want larger eyes to be able to locate food and guard themselves again prey. For this experiment, the Herbivores should have larger eyes and larger jaws as a result of their prey. On the contrary, carnivores should have smaller eyes and smaller jaws because of their diet and tropic
The herbivores we tested were a rabbit, deer, and beaver. In addition, the carnivores we tested were a coyote, bobcat and mink. There were three animal skulls measured for each type of animal in the herbivore and carnivore group. This results in a total 18 replicates. Furthermore, the independent variables in this study are the herbivores and carnivores being tested. Additionally, the dependent variables in this experiment is the diameter of the eye socket and the diameter of the mandible. There was no control in this experiment because we are comparing two animal groups. This study was carried out by measuring the mandible and eye socket diameter with a ruler as our measuring