List of apex predators

This is a partial list of apex predators—those predators that are not preyed upon as healthy adults in the wild. Full scavengers (e.g. most vultures), although they may not be preyed on either, are not counted as apex predators unless they at least partially depend on capturing live prey. Many species listed here are only apex predators within certain environments, e.g. coyotes are only apex predators when larger predators such as the gray wolf or the brown bear are absent.

Extant predators

These living carnivores or omnivores are apex predators.

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  The African wild dog is a predatory canine found across much of southern and central Africa.
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  The lion is a large feline of central, southern, and eastern Africa, as well as the Gir Forest in India. It is Africa's apex predator.
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  The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and the apex predator of Komodo.
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  The largest surviving carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil, is both a scavenger and a fierce predator.
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  The tiger is the largest apex predator of South Asia and Southeast Asia, and is also the largest living member of the cat family. It resides in countries on the continent of Asia such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Korea and Russia.

Terrestrial

* The grey wolf as a species includes the dingo and all domestic dogs.

Aerial

The south polar skua both preys on other seabirds and bullies them for their catches.

Aquatic

The electric rays are marine predators of the tropics.

The great white shark, a paradigmatic apex predator.

The killer whale or orca is an apex predator of most of the world's oceans.

The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile and is the dominant predator throughout its range.

Pagophilic

• Polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

Notes: Animals with an asterisk (*) are only apex predators as introduced species. (**) Humans have debatable status^[2]

Extinct apex predators

Non-Avian Dinosaurs

The carnivorous theropods listed below were likely apex predators based on their size and dietary needs. Because very few prehistoric ecosystems are known in detail, these are merely suggestions—larger, more dominant theropods might have lived during the same time in the same place.

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  Size comparison of the largest theropod dinosaurs
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  The largest Coelurosaur, Tyrannosaurus rex could possibly grow to over 40 feet long weigh around 6 to 10 tons and was an apex predator of its environment.
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  Spinosaurus was the largest ever terrestrial predator and an apex predator of its environment.

Other prehistoric terrestrial apex predators

Cave lions were an apex predator that preyed on reindeer and other large ungulates.

Prehistoric aerial apex predators

Before their extinction, Haast's eagles were the apex predators of New Zealand, and preyed on moas.

• Arambourgiania
• Argentavis
• Haast's eagle
• Harpactognathus
• Hatzegopteryx
• Meganeura
• Meganeuropsis
• Quetzalcoatlus
• Sericipterus
• Teratornis

Prehistoric aquatic apex predators

References