Evolution: Symbiosis Cards and Carnivorous/High Body Weight

Question

The Symbiosis card states that:

[Symbiosis is] played on a pair of creatures in a tandem. Choose the first creature as a "symbiont". The second creature can not be attacked as long as the "symbiont" stays alive, and can receive red/blue food tokens only after the "symbiont" has been FED.

I was wondering if there were any restrictions for carnivores and/or high body weight as the "dependent" symbiont.

For instance, I had a marked a small creature the symbiont, and its dependent was a high weight carnivore. During my first action in the feeding round, I used my dependent symbiont to eat another creature. Do I pass on the two blue tokens since my symbiont partner had not been fed yet? This didn't make sense since eating another creature has no bearing on the relationship.

Are there any annotated rulesets that might help clarify these types of pairwise card plays? I for one find it odd that a high weight creature could be dependent on a low weight creature for food. This is especially true if the dependent is also a carnivore.

Answer 1

According to the official FAQ (in Russian),

Симбиоз

Может ли животное (птица) со свойством хищник, находящееся под защитой симбионта (крокодила) атаковать его?

Да, если симбионт (крокодил) уже накормлен.

In English, that would sound like,

Symbiosis

Can a carnivorous animal (a bird) that is protected by a symbiont (a crocodile) attack the symbiont?

Yes, if the symbiont (a crocodile) has already been fed.

In my understanding, that means the protected animal cannot attack other creatures too, until the symbiont is fed.

P.S. See also A Living FAQ for Evolution: The Origin of Species in English

Answer 2

I think the carnivore can't attack until the "symbiont" is fed, period. In terms of the sensibility of a heavy carnivore depending on some small creature I think there might be some examples in nature. I could imagine the small animal alerting the large to food by its presence, or maybe even a small predator chasing prey into an area where large predators can feast. Who knows what is possible, but if you can think it then David Attenborough can find it.