Coevolution

Coevolution is reciprocal evolutionary change between interacting species, in which adaptations in each species alter selection pressures on the other.

Natural selection: Differential survival and reproduction cause heritable traits to become more or less common in a population. Each species changes the traits favored in its interacting partner.
Fig–fig wasp mutualism: An association in which fig wasps pollinate fig flowers while using some flowers to reproduce. The partners’ reproductive traits have evolved in close relation to one another.
Evolution: Change in heritable characteristics of populations across generations. Coevolution is a particular pattern of evolutionary change across interacting populations.
Coevolutionary lag: A delay between evolutionary change in one species and a corresponding response in an interacting species. A lag can make an interaction temporarily asymmetric without eliminating reciprocal selection.
Reciprocal adaptation: Evolutionary change in one population that alters selection on another, prompting further evolutionary change in return. This feedback between interacting species defines coevolution.
Yucca–yucca moth mutualism: A pollination partnership in which yucca moths pollinate yucca flowers and lay eggs in their fruits. The moth’s pollination and egg-laying behavior meets plant reproduction and seed loss.
Population genetics: The study of genetic variation within populations and how evolutionary processes change it. It explains how reciprocal selection changes inherited traits in each partner.
Evolutionary arms race: Escalating adaptations and counteradaptations driven by competition or conflict, sometimes within a species. An arms race need not involve reciprocal evolution between different species.
Arms race (coevolution): A coevolutionary pattern in which adaptations and counteradaptations escalate between interacting populations. Some interactions drive repeated escalation, such as stronger defenses and ways to overcome them.
New Zealand wētā and alpine plants: An interaction in which alpine plants’ spines and wētā feeding behavior vary in relation to one another. This proposed case illustrates how geographic variation can shape reciprocal selection.

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