Emergence of predation

In models for the evolution of predation from initially purely competitive species interactions, the relative weight or size of different species is often assumed to determine the efficiency of predation and the formation of food webs. However, there are numerous empirical examples where size superiority does not hold and a predator is smaller than its prey. Here we explore a model where the predation ability is an independently evolving phenotypic feature, which is necessary for predation in addition to relative values of other phenotypic coordinates such as body size. In addition to making predictions about the emergence and evolution of predation, the model reproduces stationary and non-stationary multilevel food webs with the top predators not necessarily having size superiority.