superpredators
Dominant food-chain rulers
Superpredators are apex predators that dominate their ecosystems, hunting other predators as well as prey species—great white sharks, orcas, large crocodilians.
The term gained political notoriety in the 1990s when applied to young violent criminals, a usage now widely condemned as racist and discredited: The "superpredator" myth fueled mass incarceration policies.
Outsized ecological impact organism
- food webInterconnected predator-prey relationships
- carnivoreCreature eating only animals
- megafaunaSpecies over 44 kilograms
- ecosystemInterconnected organisms and surroundings
tiger · great white shark · orca · wolf · lion · crocodile · polar bear · jaguar
- 1996Late twentieth-century year
- crime billLaw addressing illegal acts
- mass incarcerationExcessive imprisonment at scale
- dog whistleHigh-frequency pet caller
tough on crime · juvenile crime · gang violence · controversy · Hillary Clinton · criminal justice · dehumanizing · rhetoric
Large predatory dolphin
- great white sharkLargest predatory fish
- sperm whaleGiant toothed marine mammal
- megalodonExtinct colossal prehistoric shark
- barracudaLarge predatory saltwater fish
seal hunting · whale · dolphin · marine mammal · deep sea · pelagic · filter feeding · shark attack
Large theropod dinosaur species
- megalodonExtinct colossal prehistoric shark
- saber-toothed catExtinct long-fanged felid
- SpinosaurusSail-spined Cretaceous theropod
- velociraptorSmall feathered Cretaceous predator
theropod · extinction · fossil · Cretaceous · Jurassic · paleontology · mass extinction · carnosaur
keystone species
Outsized ecological impact organism
- food webInterconnected predator-prey relationships
- carnivoreCreature eating only animals
- megafaunaSpecies over 44 kilograms
ecosystem · tiger · great white shark · orca · wolf · lion · crocodile · polar bear · jaguar · obligate carnivore
Clinton
- 1996Late twentieth-century year
- crime billLaw addressing illegal acts
- mass incarcerationExcessive imprisonment at scale
dog whistle · tough on crime · juvenile crime · gang violence · controversy · Hillary Clinton · criminal justice · dehumanizing · rhetoric · systemic racism
orca
Large predatory dolphin
- great white sharkLargest predatory fish
- sperm whaleGiant toothed marine mammal
- megalodonExtinct colossal prehistoric shark
barracuda · seal hunting · whale · dolphin · marine mammal · deep sea · pelagic · filter feeding · shark attack · cetacean
Tyrannosaurus rex
Large theropod dinosaur species
- megalodonExtinct colossal prehistoric shark
- saber-toothed catExtinct long-fanged felid
- SpinosaurusSail-spined Cretaceous theropod
velociraptor · theropod · extinction · fossil · Cretaceous · Jurassic · paleontology · mass extinction · carnosaur · Ice Age
superpredatorsprey
Animal being hunted
herbivores · prey species · grazers · plankton · autotrophs
superpredatorsprey
Animal being hunted
victims · prey species · vulnerable species · forage fish · bottom-feeders
superpredatorsautotrophs
Self-nourishing organisms
plants · phytoplankton · photosynthesizers · vegetation · flora