Character displacement

Okay kiddo, so let's say you and your big brother both like to play with Legos. But, you like to build tall towers with lots of blocks, and he likes to build short castles with only a few blocks.

Now, when you both play together, you might end up using your big brother's blocks to build your tall towers because it's faster and easier. BUT, if you start playing with kids who also like to build tall towers, you might have to start using smaller blocks in order to build as tall as you like, because all the big blocks are being used by the other kids who have the same interest as you.

This is basically what happens with animals in nature. They have certain traits or characteristics that help them survive and be successful. But, if they live in the same environment with other animals who have similar characteristics, they might have to change or adapt their traits a bit in order to survive and thrive.

This is called character displacement - when animals in the same environment evolve to have slightly different characteristics in order to reduce competition for resources. It's like the Lego blocks - different animals have different interests, and to avoid stepping on each other's toes, they adapt and change.