Coevolution

HowItWorks

Coevolutionistheevolutionoftwospeciesthatinfluenceeachothertoevolve.For
example,plantsandinsectsrelyoneachothertogrow,anexampleofcoevolutioninnature.
Oneoftherelationshipsformedbycoevolutionwouldincludemutualisticrelationships.Also,how
thespeciesbehaveandappearcanenhancetheirmutualisticinteractions.

Oneofthemostcommonexamplesofcoevolutionisbetweenplantsandinsects.In
ordertobemutualisticspecies,theymusthavecloseecologicalinteractionswitheachother
theseinteractionsbeingtheprocessofpollination,etc.Plantsandinsectswouldnothave
evolvedintowhattheyhavetodaywithouteachother[Unknown1].

Amutualisticrelationshipiswhentwoorganismsofdifferentspeciesworktogether,each
benefitingfromtherelationship.Organismsinthistypeofrelationshipprogresstogetheraswell.
Astheyadaptedtotheirenvironment,theyusedeachotherinawaythatbenefitedboth.Manyof
theseinteractionsoccurintherainforest.Therearetwotypesofmutualisticrelationships:
obligatoryrelationships,whereoneorganismcannotsurvivewithouttheother,andthereare
facultativerelationships,wheretheorganismscansurviveindependently,butitbenefitsbothto
remaintogether[Dobkin,1998].

Aspeciesbehaviorcanaffecttheirmutualisticrelationship.Aspeciesmayevolveto
imitateanotherspeciesbehaviortoresembleoneanother.Thisstrategycanbeseenindifferent
typesofsnakes.Anonvenomoussnakescolorcanresemblethatofasnakewithapoisonous
bite[Britannica,2014].

Coevolutioncanbeseeninmanyspecies.Itcanbedeterminedbymanycharacteristics.
Plantsandinsectsbeingoneofthemostcommoncases,wouldnothaveevolvedintowhatthey
havetoday,provingfurtherhowimportantcoevolutionreallyis.

WorkCited

"coevolution."EncyclopaediaBritannica.EncyclopaediaBritannicaOnline.Encyclopdia
BritannicaInc.,2014.Web.05Jun.2014.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/124291/coevolution>.

DavidS.Dobkin."Coevolution."Coevolution.1998.Web.27May2014.
<http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Coevolution.html>.

Unknown1."Coevolution."Evolution101:.Web.27May2014.
<http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIIFCoevolution.shtml>.