— coevolutionary , adj.
/koh'ev euh looh"sheuhn/ or, esp. Brit., /-ee veuh-/ , n.
evolution involving a series of reciprocal changes in two or more noninterbreeding populations that have a close ecological relationship and act as agents of natural selection for each other, as the succession of adaptations of a predator for pursuing and of its prey for fleeing or evading.
[ 1960-65; CO- + EVOLUTION ]