More About Symbiosis

Symbiosis is a relationship between two organisms where one organism lives on, near, or inside the other, and where one of them benefits. There are three types of symbiotec relationships- mutualism (both organisms benefit), commensalism (one benefits and the other is not harmed), and parasitism (one benefits and the other is harmed). An example of mutualism is a clownfish and a sea anemone. An example of commensalism is lichen on a tree. An example of parasitism is fleas on a dog. Some new facts I learned from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis, were that the term "symbiosis" was first used by German mycologist Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1879. He defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms." I also learned that the evolution of all eukaryotes (plants, animals, fungi, and protists) is believed to have resulted from a symbiosis between various sorts of bacteria.

I think that symbiotec relationships are very important in the field of ecology. It's also interesting to learn what type of relationship various animals have with each other.