COMMENTS

  1. Red Queen hypothesis

    The Red Queen's hypothesis is a hypothesis in evolutionary biology proposed in 1973, that species must constantly adapt, evolve, and proliferate in order to survive while pitted against ever-evolving opposing species.The hypothesis was intended to explain the constant (age-independent) extinction probability as observed in the paleontological record caused by co-evolution between competing ...

  2. Red Queen hypothesis

    Red Queen hypothesis. The idea that, in order for a species to maintain a particular niche in an ecosystem and its fitness relative to other species, that species must be constantly undergoing adaptive evolution because the organisms with which it is coevolving are themselves undergoing adaptive evolution. When species evolve in accordance with ...

  3. Red Queen Hypothesis

    The Red Queen hypothesis was first proposed by Leigh Van Valen in 1973, and is a coevolutionary hypothesis describing how reciprocal evolutionary effects among species can lead to some particularly interesting outcomes. While Van Valen specifically addressed macroevolutionary extinction probabilities, the hypothesis has since become much more ...

  4. What Is the Red Queen Hypothesis?

    According to the Red Queen hypothesis, this back and forth coevolution of the species is a constant change with smaller adaptations accumulating over long periods of time. ... This hypothesis does not mean that the parasite in this example would not be able to coevolve. There are more ways to accumulate adaptations than just sexual selection of ...

  5. Running with the Red Queen: the role of biotic conflicts in evolution

    Van Valen's 'Red Queen hypothesis' (RQH) emphasized the primacy of biotic interactions over abiotic forces in driving evolution. This was a revolutionary advance in biological thinking on the sources and modes of selection driving evolutionary change. Previously, the view of evolution by natural selection was that of a 'hill climbing ...

  6. Getting somewhere with the Red Queen: chasing a biologically modern

    The Red Queen hypothesis (RQH) was first proposed by Van Valen to explain a pattern he argued was manifest in the fossil record involving component members of several major taxonomic groups: ... this does not mean that the rate or the probability of extinction is constant per unit time. She thus argued that the RQH is only one of many potential ...

  7. New take on the Red Queen

    According to the Red Queen hypothesis, organisms evolve by constantly changing in tune with environmental challenges, yet remain well adapted to their modes of life. So the huge diversity of life ...

  8. The Red Queen Effect

    The Red Queen Effect or Red Queen Hypothesis is a term coined by Leigh Van Valen to explain the ever-changing nature of evolution by natural selection. The hypothesis states that the likelihood of extinction for any given species remains relatively constant over time. Although a species in a given environment may have an advantage at one point ...

  9. Phylogenies reveal new interpretation of speciation and the Red Queen

    The Red Queen 1 describes a view of nature in which species continually evolve but do not become better adapted. It is one of the more distinctive metaphors of evolutionary biology, but no test of ...

  10. Red Queen Hypothesis, The

    The Red Queen Hypothesis and it's Relevance. The statement that sparked this hypothesis is "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place" (Carroll 1871 ). Van Valen's reference is essentially a metaphor for an evolutionary arms race. Predators that undergo a beneficial adaption may spark a change in ...

  11. Darwin Review: Revisiting the Red Queen

    The Red Queen hypothesis was proposed over 40 years ago by the late evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen. It advanced evolutionary thinking beyond the idea that organisms were merely matched to their physical environment by suggesting that interactions between species (such as between hosts and parasites, predators and prey) would also be ...

  12. The Red Queen

    The Red Queen. We are in the midst of an evolutionary arms race, in which host and parasitic pathogen must constantly adapt. Parasites must adapt to the host's natural defenses, and host populations are under pressure to keep up with their ever-changing parasites. This reciprocal evolution between two types of organisms (in this case, host ...

  13. The Red Queen Hypothesis: How Species Interactions Drive Evolution

    The hypothesis suggests that the interactions between different species, such as predator-prey relationships, mutualism, and competition, play a pivotal role in shaping the evolutionary trajectory of organisms. In summary, the Red Queen Hypothesis offers a compelling framework for understanding the dynamics of evolutionary change. Supported by ...

  14. Being the Alice of academia: lessons from the Red Queen hypothesis

    The Red Queen hypothesis is commonly accepted today to highlight the evolutionary arms race between pathogens and hosts. To gain an advantage over the other, pathogens must continuously adapt to pressures placed on them by our immune systems; likewise, our immune systems must mount countermeasures to prevent pathogen persistence.

  15. Getting somewhere with the Red Queen: chasing a biologically modern

    The Red Queen hypothesis (RQH) is both familiar and murky, with a scope and range that has broadened beyond its original focus. Although originally developed in the palaeontological arena, it now encompasses many evolutionary theories that champion biotic interactions as significant mechanisms for evolutionary change.

  16. Red Queen Hypothesis

    The Red Queen Hypothesis in biology states that species continually need to change to keep up with the competition. If a species would stop changing, it would lose the competition with the other species that do continue to change. If you take for example the relationship between a parasite and its host. Both the parasite and the host are ...

  17. 7.5 Testing the Red Queen Hypothesis

    7.5 Testing the Red Queen Hypothesis. The Red Queen hypothesis—that sex evolved to combat our coevolving pathogens—can be tested by analyzing a few key predictions of this hypothesis: Sex is most beneficial where there is a high risk of infection. Pathogens are more likely to attack common phenotypes (for example, clones) in a population ...

  18. 41 Testing the Red Queen Hypothesis

    41. Testing the Red Queen Hypothesis. The Red Queen hypothesis—that sex evolved to combat our coevolving pathogens—can be tested by analyzing a few key predictions of this hypothesis: Sex is most beneficial where there is a high risk of infection. Pathogens are more likely to attack common phenotypes (for example, clones) in a population ...

  19. Red Queen Hypothesis

    Abstract. Van Valen's Red Queen hypothesis is a model of coevolution driven by competitive interactions between species. It contrasts with the stationary or 'lost world' model, in which evolution is driven primarily by environmental change.

  20. Evolution: Library: The Red Queen

    According to the Red Queen hypothesis, sexual reproduction persists because it enables many species to rapidly evolve new genetic defenses against parasites that attempt to live off them ...

  21. The Red Queen was right: Life must continually evolve to avoid

    A University of California, Berkeley, study has found that a lack of new, emerging species also contributes to extinction. As the Red Queen told Alice, "it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.". Similarly, animals and plants must continually adapt and evolve just to avoid going extinct.

  22. Antagonistic coevolution accelerates molecular evolution

    According to the Red Queen hypothesis, biotic interactions are a fundamental driver of molecular evolution 2.The Red Queen hypothesis posits that for a given species, its effective environment is ...

  23. The Red Queen Hypothesis

    The Red Queen Hypothesis. The Red Queen is a fictional character from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. In the book, the Red Queen explains to Alice that her world works differently: "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as ...