Cheating death: Selection on digestive physiology overcomes expected growth costs of anti-predator defenses

Organisms often face a fundamental trade-off between growth and predator avoidance, especially when traits that enhance growth also increase predation risk. While many species reduce activity in response to predators, potentially constraining growth, this trade-off can be mitigated if alternative traits, such as digestive efficiency, compensate for reduced activity, enabling organisms to minimize growth costs while evading predators. To test this idea, we combined a mesocosm experiment with lab-based digestive physiological assays to examine survival selection and plasticity in damselfly larvae exposed to fish predators. We found that selection favored less active individuals, yet this reduction in activity did not suppress growth. Instead, plastic increases in consumption rate, selection for greater assimilation efficiency, and selection for weaker plastic digestive stress responses allowed individuals to maintain growth despite reduced activity and elevated metabolic rates. We provide..., , # Cheating death: Selection on digestive physiology overcomes expected growth costs of anti-predator defenses

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.tmpg4f59t](10.5061/dryad.tmpg4f59t)

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

#### File: Assimilation.Data.csv

**Description:** This is the main data set containing the data for activity rates and digestive physiology measures. NAs, specifically in the Daphnia_bodies columns, are not applicable, as there were no bodies left over (all consumed).

##### Variables

* Tank: Designation of the larger mesocosm tank
* Cage: Designation of the smaller enclosure tank within each mesocosm
* Individual: An individual identifier
* Previous_treatment: Whether a free or caged predator was present
* \#_of_gills: # of gill present
* treatment: Predator cue treatment (1 = without cue, 2 = with cue)
* Damselfly_Tube_Weight: Microcentrifuge mass/mg
* Damselfly_Weight_Initial: Initial mass/mg
* exuviae_weight_initial: Exuvia mass/mg if pr...,