Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

red queen hypothesis

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.81 in modern English

Syllables: red queen hy-poth-e-sis
IPA

39

Scrabble Score

18

Letters

4

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

An 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.

Example Sentences

"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."
"We extend the Red Queen hypothesis, a mechanism proposed to maintain genetic diversity at the population level, to explain diversity at the community level."
"The Red Queen hypothesis defines evolution as a kind of arms race, in which species must constantly evolve and adapt merely to survive."

Etymology

An allusion to a remark by the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass: Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. The hypothesis was advanced in 1973 by American biologist Leigh Van Valen, who called it the Red Queen's hypothesis.

Inflected Forms

the Red Queen hypothesis (canonical) Red-Queen hypothesis (alternative) Red Queen's hypothesis (alternative)

Frequently Paired Words

treadmill

Questions

What does red queen hypothesis mean?: An 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.
Where does red queen hypothesis come from?: An allusion to a remark by the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass: Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. The hypothesis was advanced in 1973 by American biologist Leigh Van Valen, who called it the Red Queen's hypothesis.

How to pronounce red queen hypothesis

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