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Natural Partners

STAN OSOLINSKI—GETTY IMAGES

Animals benefit from working together. Plants and animals help one another too. This is called mutualism. Each species provides a service. Each helps the other survive. Read about some helpful relationships.

Impalas and Oxpeckers

FERNANDO QUEVEDO—GETTY IMAGES

Impalas are bitten by bugs. But those bugs are food for oxpeckers. The birds keep the impalas clean.

Bees and Flowers

DIRK DANIEL MANN—GETTY IMAGES

Flowers make pollen. Bees eat it and carry some to other flowers. This helps the flowers grow.

Clown Fish and Sea Anemones

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Sea anemones have tentacles. They sting. But clown fish are not stung. They bring food to the anemone. And they get a place to hide from predators.

Sharks and Remoras

CAT GENNARO—GETTY IMAGES

Remoras are fish. They eat things off a shark’s skin. This keeps the shark clean.

Did You Know?

STEVE GSCHMEISSNER—GETTY IMAGES

Bacteria are germs. Some help break down food in your stomach. Some even produce vitamins. From us, they get food.