Red Queen hypothesis

alternative Red-Queen hypothesis · alternative Red Queen's hypothesis

1. evolutionary theoryAn evolutionary hypothesis which proposes that organisms must constantly adapt, evolve, and proliferate not merely to gain reproductive advantage, but also simply to survive while pitted against other evolving organisms in an ever-changing environment.

   The Red Queen hypothesis defines evolution as a kind of arms race, in which species must constantly evolve and adapt merely to survive.

   2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 219

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   Stenseth and Maynard Smith (1984) reformulated this hypothesis by including the idea of evolutionary lag and dismissing Van Valen's zero-sum assumption. They contrast the Red-Queen hypothesis with the stationary hypothesis, q.v. Hoffman and Kitchell (1984 in Lewin 1985a, 400) offer some support for the Red-Queen hypothesis.

   2000, Edward M. Barrows, Animal Behavior Desk Reference, 2nd edition, CRC Press, page 358

   We extend the Red Queen hypothesis, a mechanism proposed to maintain genetic diversity at the population level, to explain diversity at the community level.

   2008, Keith Clay et al., “Chapter 7: Red Queen Communities”, in Richard S. Ostfeld, Felicia Keesing, Valerie T. Eviner, editors, Infectious Disease Ecology, Princeton University Press, page 145