Coevolution of Life on Hosts: Integrating Ecology and History

Description:

In this book three leading experts on host-parasite relationships demonstrate how the coevolution that occurs between ectoparasitic species, such as lice, in microevolutionary, or ecological, time generates clear footprints in macroevolutionary, or historical, time. By integrating these scales, the book offers a comprehensive understanding of the influence of coevolution on the diversity of all life.

Following an introduction to coevolutionary concepts, the authors combine experimental and comparative host-parasite approaches for testing coevolutionary hypotheses to explore the influence of ecological interactions and coadaptation on patterns of diversification and codiversification among interacting species. Ectoparasites – a diverse assemblage of organisms that ranges from herbivorous insects on plants, to monogenean flatworms on fish, and feather lice on birds – are powerful models for the study of coevolution because they are easy to observe, mark, and count. As lice on birds and mammals are permanent parasites that spend their entire lifecycles on the bodies of their hosts, they are ideally suited to generating a synthetic overview of coevolution – and, thereby, offer an exciting framework for integrating the concepts of coadaptation and codiversification.