van Valen's Red Queen hypothesis

Van Valen's Red Queen hypothesis suggests that species must continuously evolve just to keep pace with changing environments and other evolving organisms. In an ongoing "arms race," staying the same isn't enough; survival depends on constant adaptation. Think of it like running on a treadmill—you need to keep moving to stay in the same spot. This concept explains why extinctions happen and why species evolve similarly over time, emphasizing that evolutionary change is driven by the need to constantly "stay ahead" in a competitive and changing world.