Does evolution explain symbiotic relationships in the wild? ?

For example the Cockroach can not digest wood on its own, so it has protozoans and bacteria living in its intestine digesting the cellulose. They little critters take the nutrients out of the wood for the cockroach and without them the cockroach dies and visa versa. Does evolution explain symbiotic relationships in the wild? ?
For a fascinating insight into this try reading the extended phenotype by Richard Dawkins.





The co evolution principle would say that they evolve together. The Cockroach ancestor would have had some ability to digest food, but after getting some protozoa into their gut would have eventually survived better using this ';way of life'; than other competing populations of protoroachs. The protozoa would adapt to the life inside the roach's guts, losing the ability to survive outside. Effectively the Protozoan's genotype ';reaches inside'; the Roach's genotype and takes the place of the genes ';for'; digestion.





Does evolution explain symbiotic relationships in the wild? ?
Yes, it does. The term is co-evolution.





Those roaches with intestines more hospitable to the protozoa have a survival advantage because they gain a new food supply available, and the protozoa have a survival advantage because they an environment where they have an influx of wood particles broken (chewed) to create extensive surface area.





Cockroaches and protozoa appeared independently. Although protozoa appeared first (before woody plants, as well), the species that formed the initial symbiotic relationship appeared at roughly the same time.





Here an analogy. Chocolate was ancient. Then someone figured out how to make solid chocolate. Peanuts are ancient. Then someone figure out how to make peanut butter. These are independent ';evolution';. Someone put peanut butter in a chocolate cup and it sold -- ';symbiosis';. As they went into production, they reformulated the chocolate so it wouldn't soften from the peanut oil and the peanut butter to get a better texture contrast with the chocolate so the could sell more -- ';co-evolution';.
Yes, I suppose it could to a certain extent. Although, mostly by extension... Natural Selection is what is probably helping to form this relationship and Evolution is related to natural selection. Natural selection is where an animal gains some sort of ability that allows them to have a better chance of survival. The cockroach and bacteria work together because it gives them a survival advantage.
Yes. The cockroach would originally been something else that did not eat wood. As it gained microorganisms that allowed it to digest wood, it started eating wood and evolved into the cockroach.