Which of the following is NOT one of the four major types of species interactions?

The answer is correct because cooperation, while it may seem relevant to species interactions, is not typically categorized as one of the four major types. The four primary types of species interactions generally recognized in ecological studies are predation, mutualism, parasitism, and competition.

Predation involves one organism consuming another, while mutualism refers to interactions where both species benefit. Commensalism describes a relationship where one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. Cooperation, on the other hand, can refer to various collaborative behaviors but does not fit neatly into the major categories that define ecological interactions in terms of benefits, harms, or neutral effects. Thus, identifying cooperation as a separate category alongside the others illustrates why it does not belong to the recognized major types of species interactions.