The Red Queen's Hypothesis, Red Queen, "Red Queen's race" or "Red Queen Effect" is an evolutionary hypothesis. The term is taken from the Red Queen's race in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. The Red Queen said, "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place." The Red Queen Principle can be stated thus: Red Queen is an evolutionary hypothesis to the advantage of sex at the level of individuals, and the constant evolutionary arms race between competing species. ... This article is about evolution in biology. ... Look up Hypothesis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Red Queens race is an incident that appears in Lewis Carrolls Through the Looking-Glass and involves the Red Queen, a representation of a Queen in chess, and Alice constantly running but remaining in the same spot. ... Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (IPA: ) (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) is a work of childrens literature by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), and is the sequel to Alices Adventures in Wonderland. ...

For an evolutionary system, continuing development is needed just in order to maintain its fitness relative to the systems it is co-evolving with. [1]

The hypothesis is intended to explain two different phenomena: the advantage of sexual reproduction at the level of individuals, and the constant evolutionary arms race between competing species. In the first (microevolutionary) version, by making every individual an experiment when mixing mother's and father's genes, sexual reproduction may allow a species to adapt quickly just to hold onto the ecological niche that it already has in the ecosystem. In the second (macroevolutionary) version, the probability of extinction for groups (usually families) of organisms is hypothesized to be constant within the group and random among groups. Fitness (often denoted in population genetics models) is a central concept in evolutionary theory. ... Bumblebees and the flowers they pollinate have co-evolved so that both have become dependent on each other for survival. ... The evolution of sex is a major puzzle in modern evolutionary biology. ... An evolutionary arms race is an evolutionary struggle between a predator species and its prey (including parasitism) that is said to resemble an arms race. ... Microevolution is the occurrence of small-scale changes in allele frequencies in a population, over a few generations, also known as change at or below the species level. ... For other uses, see Gene (disambiguation). ... Sexual reproduction is a union that results in increasing genetic diversity of the offspring. ... Two lichenes species on a rock, in two different ecological niches In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in an ecosystem. ... A coral reef near the Hawaiian islands is an example of a complex marine ecosystem. ... Macroevolution refers to evolution that occurs at or above the level of species, in contrast with microevolution, which refers to smaller evolutionary changes (typically described as changes in allele frequencies) within a species or population. ... The hierarchy of scientific classification In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is a rank, or a taxon in that rank. ...

Arms races

Parasites are in a constant arms race with their host.

Originally proposed by Leigh Van Valen (1973), the metaphor of an evolutionary arms race has been found appropriate for the descriptions of biological processes with dynamics similar to arms races. He proposed the Red Queen's Hypothesis as an explanatory tangent to his proposed Law of Extinction (also 1973) which he derived from observation of constant probabilities of extinction within families of organisms across geological time. Put differently, Van Valen found that the ability of a family of organisms to survive does not improve over time, and that the probability of extinction for any given family is random. The Red Queen's Hypothesis as formulated by Van Valen provides a conceptual underpinning to discussions of evolutionary arms races, even though a direct test of the hypothesis remains elusive, particularly at the macroevolutionary level. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1296x1458, 218 KB) Weberknecht mit Milbenbefall, fotografiert im August 2004 von soebe Titel: Weberknecht mit Milbenbefall Foto: soebe, 17. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1296x1458, 218 KB) Weberknecht mit Milbenbefall, fotografiert im August 2004 von soebe Titel: Weberknecht mit Milbenbefall Foto: soebe, 17. ... Professor Leigh Van Valen (born 1935) is an American evolutionary biologist. ... The term arms race in its original usage describes a competition between two or more parties for military supremacy. ... For other uses, see Extinction (disambiguation). ... The table and timeline of geologic periods presented here is in accordance with the dates and nomenclature proposed by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. ... Testability, a property applying to an empirical hypothesis, involves two components: (1) the logical property that is variously described as contingency, defeasibility, or falsifiability, which means that counterexamples to the hypothesis are logically possible, and (2) the practical feasibility of observing a reproducible series of such counterexamples if they do...

For example, because every improvement in one species will lead to a selective advantage for that species, variation will normally continuously lead to increases in fitness in one species or another. However, since in general different species are co-evolving, improvement in one species implies that it will get a competitive advantage over the other species, and thus be able to capture a larger share of the resources available to all. This means that fitness increase in one evolutionary system will tend to lead to fitness decrease in another system. The only way that a species involved in a competition for resources can maintain its fitness relative to other competing species is by improving its specific fitness. (From Heylighen, 2000) Natural selection is a process by which biological populations are altered over time, as a result of the propagation of heritable traits that affect the capacity of individual organisms to survive and reproduce. ... Competition within and between species is an important topic in biology, specifically, in the field of ecology. ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ...

The most obvious example of this effect are the "arms races" between predators and prey (e.g. Vermeij, 1987), where the only way predators can compensate for a better defense by the prey (e.g. rabbits running faster) is by developing a better offense (e.g. foxes running faster). In this case we might consider the relative improvements (running faster) to be also absolute improvements in fitness. (From Heylighen, 2000) This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ...

Discussions of sex and reproduction were not part of Van Valen's Red Queen's Hypothesis, which addressed evolution at scales above the species level. The microevolutionary version of the Red Queen's Hypothesis was proposed by Bell (1982), also citing Lewis Carroll, but not citing Van Valen. See below. For other uses, see Reproduction (disambiguation) Reproduction is the biological process by which new individual organisms are produced. ...

The paradox of sex: The "cost" of males

For more details on this topic, see Evolution of sex.

Science writer Matt Ridley wrote a book The Red Queen in which he discussed the debate in theoretical biology over the adaptive benefit of sexual reproduction to those species in which it appears. The connection of the Red Queen to this debate arises from the fact that the traditionally accepted theory (The Vicar of Bray) only showed adaptive benefit at the level of the species or group, not at the level of the gene. (Although, it must be addded here that the protean 'Vicar of Bray' adaptation is very useful to some species that belong to the lower levels of the food chain.) By contrast, a Red-Queen-type theory that organisms are running cyclic arms races with their parasites can explain the utility of sexual reproduction at the level of the gene by positing that the role of sex is to preserve genes which are currently disadvantageous, but which will become advantageous against the background of a likely future population of parasites. The evolution of sex is a major puzzle in modern evolutionary biology. ... Matthew (Matt) Ridley (born February 7, 1958 at Newcastle upon Tyne) (not to be confused with Mark Ridley) is an English science writer. ... The Red Queen or Red Queens Race is an evolutionary theory explaining the advantage of sex. ... Sexual reproduction is a union that results in increasing genetic diversity of the offspring. ... The character of The Vicar of Bray appears in a traditional English folk song with that title, and was the subject of a comic opera which opened at the Globe Theatre, in London, on July 22, 1882, for a run of 69 performances. ... For other uses, see Gene (disambiguation). ... A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ...

Sex is an evolutionary puzzle. In most sexual species, males make up half the population, yet they bear no offspring directly and generally contribute little to the survival of offspring. In fact, in some species, such as lions, males pose a positive threat to live young fathered by other males (although this could be viewed as a manifestation of Richard Dawkins' so-called selfish gene, whose 'goal' is to reproduce itself, which may as a consequence suppress the reproduction of other genes). Obviously there are species which are exceptions to this rule, such as humans, seahorses, and penguins, amongst others. In addition, males and females must spend resources to attract and compete for mates. Sexual selection also can favor traits that reduce the fitness of an organism, such as brightly colored plumage in birds of paradise which increases the likelihood for an individual to be noticed by both predators and potential mates (see the handicap principle for more on this). Thus, sexual reproduction can be highly inefficient. The word male has the following meanings: In biology, it refers to one half of a heterogamous reproduction system, where the female is the other half. ... Sex ratio by country for total population. ... In biology, offspring are the product of reproduction, a new organism produced by one or more parents. ... A lioness may have her cubs destroyed if the prides males are overthrown. ... Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about modern humans. ... Species See text for species. ... Modern genera Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus For prehistoric genera, see Systematics Some penguins are curious. ... Illustration from The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin showing the Tufted Coquette Lophornis ornatus, female on left, ornamented male on right. ... For the flowering plant of this name, see Strelitzia Genera Cicinnurus Diphyllodes Epimachus Lophorina Manucodia Paradisaea Parotia Ptiloris Seleucidis Lesser Bird of Paradise Paradisaea minor (c)Roderick Eime The birds of paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes, found in Oceania. ... The handicap principle is an idea proposed by the Israeli biologist Amotz Zahavi. ...

One possible explanation for the fact that nearly all vertebrates are sexual is that sex increases the rate at which adaptation can occur. This is for two reasons. First, if an advantageous mutation occurs in an asexual line, it is impossible for that mutation to spread without wiping out all other lines, which may have different advantageous mutations of their own. Second, it mixes up alleles. Some instances of genetic variation might be advantageous only when paired with other mutation, and sex increases the likelihood that such pairings will occur. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The eye is an adaptation. ... It has been suggested that mutant be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that Parthenogenesis be merged into this article or section. ... An allele is any one of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given locus (position) on a chromosome. ...

For sex to be advantageous for these reasons requires constant selection for changing conditions. One factor that might cause this is the constant arms race between parasites and their hosts. Parasites generally evolve quickly, due to their short lifespans. As they evolve, they attack their hosts in a variety of ways. Two consecutive generations might be faced with very different selective pressures. If this change is rapid enough, it might explain the persistence of sex.

References

• Bell, G. (1982). The Masterpiece Of Nature: The Evolution and Genetics of Sexuality. University of California Press, Berkeley, 635 pp.
• Lewis Carroll. 1960 (reprinted). The Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, illustrated by J. Tenniel, with an Introduction and Notes by M. Gardner. The New American Library, New York, 345 pp. Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There [2]
• Dawkins, R. & Krebs, J. R. (1979). Arms races between and within species. Proceedings of the Royal society of London, B 205, 489-511.
• F. Heylighen (2000): "The Red Queen Principle", in: F. Heylighen, C. Joslyn and V. Turchin (editors): Principia Cybernetica Web (Principia Cybernetica, Brussels), URL: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/REDQUEEN.html.
• Pearson, Paul N. (2001) Red Queen hypothesis Encyclopedia of Life Sciences http://www.els.net
• Matt Ridley (1995) The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-024548-0
• Leigh Van Valen. (1973). "A new evolutionary law". Evolutionary Theory 1: 1—30.
• Vermeij, G.J. (1987). Evolution and escalation: An ecological history of life. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.