The Red Queen Hypothesis
Introduce the Red Queen hypothesis — species must keep evolving just to maintain fitness relative to co-evolving partners; describe predator-prey arms races (cheetah speed vs gazelle speed, bat echolocation vs moth hearing jamming) and parasite-host co-evolution (myxomatosis in rabbits); explain Darwin's hawk moth and orchid as a classic example of mutualistic co-evolution predicting an unknown species; understand that co-evolution is a major driver of biological diversification
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“Can your child explain the idea of an evolutionary arms race — how a predator and its prey keep evolving better attack and defence strategies in response to each other, never quite getting ahead?”
Full guide and materials
- Activity. Introduce the Red Queen hypothesis — species must keep evolving just to maintain fitness relative to co-evolving partners; describe predator-prey arms races (cheetah speed vs gazelle speed, bat echolocation vs moth hearing jamming) and parasite-host co-evolution (myxomatosis in rabbits); explain Darwin's hawk moth and orchid as a classic example of mutualistic co-evolution predicting an unknown species; understand that co-evolution is a major driver of biological diversification
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Can your child explain the idea of an evolutionary arms race — how a predator and its prey keep evolving better attack and defence strategies in response to each other, never quite getting ahead?
Introduce the Red Queen hypothesis — species must keep evolving just to maintain fitness relative to co-evolving partners; describe predator-prey arms races (cheetah speed vs gazelle speed, bat echolocation vs moth hearing jamming) and parasite-host co-evolution (myxomatosis in rabbits); explain Darwin's hawk moth and orchid as a classic example of mutualistic co-evolution predicting an unknown species; understand that co-evolution is a major driver of biological diversification
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“Can your child explain the idea of an evolutionary arms race — how a predator and its prey keep evolving better attack and defence strategies in response to each other, never quite getting ahead?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Animals of the World
- Age range
- Ages 11–12