coevolution

[ koh-ev-uh-loo-shuhn or, especially British, -ee-vuh- ]

/ ˌkoʊ ɛv əˈlu ʃən or, especially British, -i və- /

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noun

evolution involving a series of reciprocal changes in two or more noninterbreeding populations that have a close ecological relationship and act as agents of natural selection for each other, as the succession of adaptations of a predator for pursuing and of its prey for fleeing or evading.

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Origin of coevolution

First recorded in 1960–65; co- + evolution

OTHER WORDS FROM coevolution

co·ev·o·lu·tion·ar·y, adjective

Words nearby coevolution

Coetzee, Coeur, Coeur d'Alene, Coeur de Lion, coeval, coevolution, coevolve, coexecutor, coexecutrix, coexist, coexistence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use coevolution in a sentence

One hurdle for glycobiology, Gagneux noted, is that even closely related species with high levels of genetic similarity, like chimps and humans, have glycans that can vary significantly because of constant, ongoing coevolution.
Researchers Read the Sugary ‘Language’ on Cell Surfaces|Rachel Crowell|May 3, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Because of host-pathogen coevolution, “there’s a lot of diversity” in the glycome, Cummings said.
Researchers Read the Sugary ‘Language’ on Cell Surfaces|Rachel Crowell|May 3, 2021|Quanta Magazine
If there has been a gene-culture coevolution for musicality, the larger message for the sciences is that the interplay of biology and culture has shaped important aspects of the human mind.
What Makes Music Universal - Issue 99: Universality|Kevin Berger|April 29, 2021|Nautilus
For the 2018 CASP competition, DeepMind took these basic ideas about coevolution and contact prediction but added two important twists.
Know when to fold ’em: How a company best known for playing games used A.I. to solve one of biology’s greatest mysteries|Jeremy Kahn|November 30, 2020|Fortune

With this book he has given his successors an indispensable guide to continuing the Sino-American “coevolution” he began.
Dr. K’s Rx for China|Niall Ferguson|May 17, 2011|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for coevolution

coevolution

/ (kəʊˌiːvəˈluːʃən) /

noun

the evolution of complementary adaptations in two or more species of organisms because of a special relationship that exists between them, as in insect-pollinated plants and their insect pollinators

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for coevolution

coevolution

[ kō′ĕv-ə-lōō′shən ]

The evolution of two or more species that interact closely with one another, with each species adapting to changes in the other. The mutually beneficial development of flowering plants and insects such as bees and butterflies that pollinate them is an example of coevolution, as is the mutually antagonistic development of prey and predator species in which defensive adaptations in the one are matched by counteradaptations in the other aimed at neutralizing or overcoming them.

Cultural definitions for coevolution

coevolution

The process that occurs when two species influence each other during evolution. For example, an insect may evolve specialized parts that allow it to feed on a specific flower, whereas the flower evolves to facilitate pollination by that particular insect.