Daphnia

Mud time capsules show evolutionary arms race between host and parasite

edyong | 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…