coevolution

[sculptor]

I recently read:
Parasites may affect the evolution of complexity in their hosts. The presence of a parasitic form within a host population tends to select for a more complex instruction set in the hosts, full of old and emerging resistance strategies. The two forms together drive an increase in complexity relative to a single population on its own.

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Your thoughts?

 

[PhysBang]

This certainly could be the case. However, the line between parasite and symbiote is a fluid one. Certain relationships could drive a reduction in complexity.

See, for example, the various forms of Wolbachia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolbachia Wolbachia infection could conceivably lead a population to shed some of its immune response mechanisms.

 

[Billy T]

Honey bees and flowers have coevolved. Each aiding the other to prosper now.