Coevolution

Key Questions

  • Answer:

    while evolving one species may take severals different path, and in a case of cooevolution the other species will have to follow. therefor any dichotomi lead to two possible new species .

    Explanation:

    Consider two species in a case of coo evolution ,cooperation like polinators and flowered plants or parasitism with and more effectifs parasit and an host which evolved to limits it's action.

    If one of the member of the association of species change for a reason or and other,(wich may already resulte in an increase of biodiversity) the other species will have to follow and it might lead to speciation and therefor a biodiversity increase.

    picture yoursefl a flea on a random species , if some of the hosts get to be spacialy segregated from the rest of the population which may lead to speciation, the parasit will also be segregated from the rest of it's population.
    the chance of speciation is more likely to happend if the variation of the host lead to change the "environement" of the parasite which will then be selected by nature under new criteria.
    http://www.scienceetfoi.com/le-parasitisme-le-mutualisme-et-la-co-speciation/

  • Answer:

    Coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution.

    Explanation:

    Each party in coevolution relationship exerts selective pressures on the other thereby affecting each other's evolution. It is likely to happen when different species have close ecological interactions with one another.

    Coevolution influences the structure and function of ecological communities as well as the dynamics of infectious disease. An evolutionary change in the morphology of a plant, might effect the morphology of a herbivore that eats the plant.

    Some south central American Acacia species have hollow thorns and pores at the bases of their leaves that secrete nectar. These hollow thorns are the exclusive nesting sites of certain species of ants that also consume the nectar. In turn these ants defend the Acacia plant against herbivores. Thus the plants would not have evolved hollow thorns or nectar pores unless their evolution had been affected by the ants. Similarly the ants would not have evolved herbivore defense behaviour unless their evolution had been affected by the plants.

    Coevolution includes many forms of mutualism, host-parasite and predator-prey relationships between species as well as competition between species.

Questions