title: A behavioural framework for the evolution of feeding in predatory aquatic mammals.
abstract: Extant aquatic mammals are a key component of aquatic ecosystems. Their morphology, ecological role and behaviour are, to a large extent, shaped by their feeding ecology. Nevertheless, the nature of this crucial aspect of their biology is often oversimplified and, consequently, misinterpreted. Here, we introduce a new framework that categorizes the feeding cycle of predatory aquatic mammals into four distinct functional stages (prey capture, manipulation and processing, water removal and swallowing), and details the feeding behaviours that can be employed at each stage. Based on this comprehensive scheme, we propose that the feeding strategies of living aquatic mammals form an evolutionary sequence that recalls the land-to-water transition of their ancestors. Our new conception helps to explain and predict the origin of particular feeding styles, such as baleen-assisted filter feeding in whales and raptorial 'pierce' feeding in pinnipeds, and informs the structure of present and past ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia david@dphocking.com.|Geosciences, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: David P
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6848-1208
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Hocking
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.|Geosciences, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.|Directorate of Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Felix G
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1029-4001
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Marx
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.|Geosciences, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Travis
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9492-8859
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Geosciences, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.|National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.|Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.
authors.forename: Erich M G
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.|Geosciences, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Alistair R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D010872:Caniformia / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D014907:Whales / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: foraging; marine mammal; prey handling; processing; secondarily aquatic; water removal