Explain how predation can shape the ecological niche of a prey species over evolutionary time.

Predation is a strong selective pressure that favours prey individuals with traits that lower their risk of being eaten. For example, individuals that are better camouflaged, that hide in safer micro‑habitats or that change their activity times are more likely to survive and reproduce. Over many generations the frequency of alleles for these protective traits rises, so the population’s average phenotype shifts toward better anti‑predator adaptations. As a result the prey’s realised niche changes – it may occupy different micro‑habitats, be active at different times or alter its diet to avoid predators. This reciprocal process, an evolutionary arms race, can also drive the predator to evolve new hunting strategies, further reshaping the niches of both species.