Cospeciation

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cospeciation

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is cospeciation?Cospeciation is when two species, like a host and its parasite, evolve together so that when one splits into new species, the other does too. They end up with matching family trees.
2. Why do parasites change when their host changes?Parasites live on specific hosts, so when a host population gets separated and becomes a new species, the parasites that live on it also become isolated and start to evolve separately, creating a new parasite species.

Coevolution: The reciprocal evolutionary influence between interacting species, shaping their adaptations and traits over time.
Speciation: The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise, typically through reproductive isolation.
Phylogenetic Congruence: The degree to which the evolutionary histories (phylogenies) of two or more species or groups of organisms align.
Symbiosis: A close and long-term interaction between two different biological species, which can be mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic.