An apex predator, also known as an alpha predator or apical predator, is a predator residing at the top of a food chain upon which no other creatures prey. Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that apex-predator species occupy the highest trophic level or levels and play a crucial role in maintaining the health of their ecosystems. One study of marine food webs defined apex predators as greater than trophic level four.
Food chains are often far shorter on land, with their apices usually limited to the third trophic level – for example, giant constrictor snakes, crocodilians, hyenas, wolves or big cats preying mostly upon large herbivores. Apex predators do not need to be hypercarnivores.