What is symbiosis Symbiosis is a difficult word but it is an easy idea It describes the close relationship of two different species of living things that help harm or have no effect on each other This book is about the four main kinds of relationships that different animals have Which of these relationships do you have with other people or animals ticks 4 Four symbiotic relationships Mutualism Both species benefit from their relationship Commensalism One species benefits and does not help or hurt the other species Parasitism One species benefits while harming another species Predation One species a predator benefits by feeding on another called its prey
This impala and the dog on the opposite page both have ticks on their bodies Ticks feed on the blood of these animals The birds shown here called oxpeckers are looking for ticks to eat Why does the impala allow the birds to sit on its head and back 5
Animals that clean A parasite such as a tick or flea lives on another living thing called a host Parasites often harm their host animals by feeding on their blood or taking other nutrients from their bodies Some parasites even pass on diseases The relationship between a parasite and an animal it harms is called parasitism When another animal eats the parasites on a host’s body it is taking part in a helpful relationship called mutualism The parasites are removed so they will no longer harm the host and they feed the animals that remove them flea These geese are eating the parasites on this cape buffalo’s head as well as those that have come loose and fallen into the water 6
These birds look like earrings as they clean the impala Monkeys often groom or clean one another by removing dead skin insects dirt and twigs They groom mainly to make friends What kind of symbiosis is being shown here A gray heron is using a hippo’s back as a platform for fishing These birds also clean the ticks from hippos so hippos do not seem to mind having these birds on their backs 7
