Which population of predators is potentially most stable? a population that specializes on one type of prey a population that is composed primarily of juveniles a population at its maximum sustainable yield a population that feeds on many types of prey a population that is composed of fertile adults?

The correct answer is - a population that feeds on many types of prey.

The predators that are highly versatile in their diet are usually the ones that get over through crises periods, dying out of species, natural disasters ... This is due to their ability to adapt to feed on various prey animals, so they are not dependant only on one or two species for their survival. Also this type of predators have developed multiple hunting strategies, unlike the highly specialized predators.

A perfect example for this is the survival of the cougar and the dying out of the smilodon. While the smilodon was a highly specialized predator for only certain type of prey and only one hunting strategy, the cougar was and still is a predator that hunts everything from rodents to birds, and from rabbits to elks. So when a change occurred in the ecosystem, the smilodon died out because its prey died out and it was not able to feed itself, while the versatile cougar managed to survive because it was able to prey upon most of the animals and had perfected multiple hunting strategies.