The arms race, so famous during the Cold War, is nothing new. It's gone on since the first organisms began to prey on others. But, as one kind of animal attacks a different kind, it sows the seeds of resistance. Natural selection is nothing but the environment differentially affecting the survival, and thus the reproduction, of an organism. Predation can be a powerful environmental force, culling those individuals less able to survive attack. Thus it's no surprise that faster prey, or those with stronger armor, pass their genes on, and the prey becomes more efficient. Of course, those predators who are faster or more powerful survive better than slower and less powerful individuals. Keep this back and forth battle up long enough, and both are on their way to becoming superpowers.
But where does it stop? As more and more resources necessarily are
directed to predation and its avoidance, other factors become important. As with the
Soviet Union ruining its economy in the race, one or both pay the price. With animals,
the price often is extinction.
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.