Living in the danger zone: Exposure to predators and the evolution of spines and body armor in mammals

Mammals have independently evolved a wide variety of morphological adaptations for use in avoiding death by predation, including spines, quills, dermal plates, and noxious sprays. Although these traits appear to protect their bearer from predatory attack, it is less obvious why some species evolved them and others have not. We investigated the ecological correlates favoring the evolution of specialized defenses in mammals, focusing on conspicuousness to predators due to body size and openness of habitat. We scored species for the degree to which they are protected by spines, quills, dermal plating, and sprays and used phylogenetic comparative analyses to study the morphological and ecological factors that may favor their evolution. We show that medium-sized insectivorous mammals (similar to 800 g to 9 kg) that live in open habitats are more likely to possess one of these defensive traits to reduce predation. Smaller species (<200 g) and those in closed habitats can typically rely on crypsis to avoid predators, and larger species (>10 kg) are less susceptible to predation by most small-to medium-sized predators. We discuss how diet, metabolic rate, and defensive strategy evolve in concert to allow species to exploit this ecomorphological "danger zone" niche.