coevolution

American  

[koh-ev-uh-loo-shuhn, -ee-vuh-] / ˌkoʊ ɛv əˈlu ʃən, -i və- /

noun

1. 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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coevolution British  

/ kəʊˌiːvəˈluːʃən /

noun

1. 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

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coevolution Scientific  

/ kō′ĕv-ə-lo̅o̅′shən /

1. 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.

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coevolution Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• coevolutionary
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of coevolution

First recorded in 1960–65; co- + evolution

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coevolution

In fact, the domestication of wolf to dog dovetailed into the emerging social structures of humankind, a coevolution documented in ancient petroglyphs of hunting from around 9000 B.C.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

How will such a predator-prey coevolution pan out?

From National Geographic ● Dec. 12, 2023

It's a rare example of cooperation between humans and wild animals, and a potential instance of cultural coevolution.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 7, 2023

In an experiment known as the “impossible task,” dogs confronted with a food bowl they can’t access turn to humans for help, a behavior that’s been chalked up to their intensive coevolution with us.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 7, 2023

“Given these findings, the almost-exclusive focus on humans by studies of the interaction of culture and genes should be expanded, and exploration of culture–genome coevolution models in suitable non-human animal systems encouraged,” the authors wrote.

From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2023

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