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Scorpion Races: How Behavior Evolves

As the simulation shows, scorpions do better if they run away rather than confronting the predator. Scorpions are actually very fast and can often get away if they run.

How do scorpions decide which strategy to use? Many animals are capable of learning by experience; however, behavior can also be shaped by natural selection over time.

If we assume that the two contrasting behaviors, running versus fighting, are genetically based, natural selection would affect the prevalence of the two types in a population over time...

Because the fighters are more likely to get eaten than the runners, fewer and fewer fighters will survive to reproduce. Over time, the population becomes dominated by those scorpions that are genetically predisposed to run.

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