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Substantiate with the help of one example that in an ecosystem mutualists (i) tend to co-evolve and (ii) are also one of the major causes of biodiversity loss.

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(i) Orchids in the genus Ophrys are the best known of the plants whose flowers closely resemble females of particular insect species. One of the petals (or labellum) is modified to resemble a female insect. The labellum serves as a landing platform for the male insect. In fact, the resemblance is so close that male attempts to pseudocopulate with the flowers perceiving it to be a female insect. Since the mating is unsuccessful, the male looks out for another female which is likely to be another orchid flower. The male insect does not receive any kind of reward, but pollen has been transferred from one plant to another. In this case, the flower should co-evolve with the female insect otherwise the chances of successful pollination will be reduced. 

(ii) Co-extinction is one of the 'Evil Quartet' in which organisms with obligatory relationship like plant pollinator mutualism will result in extinction of one partner if other is eliminated in nature. Seeds of Sideroxyglon grandiflorum, an exclusive tree in Mauritius, germinate when they pass through the abrasive gut of dodo (Ruphus cucullatus), a bird. These birds became extinct in 17th century and only a few old trees survive now. Insects are good pollinators, hence flowering plants and insects are interdependent. In such cases, when one species becomes extinct, the other species associated or dependent on it also becomes extinct.

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