ScienceNot Exactly Rocket Science

Mud time capsules show evolutionary arms race between host and parasite

Every move and counter-move between water flea and bacteria has been perfectly preserved.

By Ed Yong

PUBLISHED February 11, 2009

This is the fifth of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin’s bicentennial.

Life can sometimes be a futile contest. Throughout the natural world, pairs of species are locked in an evolutionary arms race where both competitors must continuously evolve new adaptations just to avoid ceding ground. Any advantage is temporary as every adaptive move from a predator or parasite is quickly neutralised by a counter-move from its prey or host. Coerced onward by the indifferent force of natural selection, neither side can withdraw from the stalemate.

These patterns of evolution are known as Red Queen dynamics, after the character in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass who said to Alice, “It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.” These arms races are predicted by evolutionary theory, not least as an explanation for sex. By shuffling genes from a mother and father, sex acts as a crucible for genetic diversity, providing a species with the raw material for adapting to its parasites and keep up with the arms race.

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Mud time capsules show evolutionary arms race between host and parasite

Every move and counter-move between water flea and bacteria has been perfectly preserved.

This is the fifth of eight posts on evolutionary research to celebrate Darwin’s bicentennial.

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