Explain the main principles of the Red Queen Hypothesis.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The Red Queen Hypothesis states that “it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place.” According to this hypothesis, advantageous traits that develop through natural selection don’t provide a net advantage in the long run. This is because other species evolve as well, and each species’ environment constantly changes. Therefore, while one trait can be adaptive at a certain point, new adaptations of rival species call for new responses—that is, new adaptive traits—only to maintain the current state. Since each species acquires adaptations at the expense of other species, other species
must also adapt, producing new challenges for recently adapted species. Perhaps the best example of this is bacteria and other parasites, which constantly evolve, making the human (and other species’) immune system(s) constantly change as well. Moreover, newly evolved adaptive traits often enhance survivability in one domain but can present a challenge themselves in other domains.