"Insects pollinate plants, and plants reward insects with nectar or
other treats. It's obviously a good deal for both organisms, but how do
such mutually beneficial relationships arise? Biologists once thought
the answer lay in successive rounds of coevolution, in which each player
gradually adapts to the other's needs... [They] offered evidence that
chance and pre-existing conditions may be more important than a long
history of togetherness... The take-home message is that co-opting
existing functions is the key to the evolution of novelty."
They studied yucca moths and yucca plants (I believe that these are a
favorite of YECs to show God's special creation). These are a case of
obligate mutualism. These moths purposefully carry pollen from flower to
flower of these plants (not eating it) and lay their eggs in the flower.
The moth is well adapted for this special duty with unique tentacles.
The authors created an evolutionary chart from DNA of existing moths and
are convinced that the special traits of the moth had developed before
the symbiotic relationship ever started in this family of moths that were
associated with other flowers.
"Over-all, the mutualism arose because of a chance combination of
life history traits in the moth family, which predisposed the entire
family for such a specialized relationship."
Al
MCCARRIC@mailgate.navsses.navy.mil