We designed a complex ecosystem simulation platform that we use to investigate many difficult theoretical ecology problems.

 

In our recent PLOS ONE publication, we show that the notion of species is universal and automatically emerged from systems as long as they are complex enough to allow natural selection to occur. The species we observed emerging in our artificial world have the same properties as the ones observed in nature. We show that natural selection alone, with no need for spatial separation or sexual selection mechanisms, is enough for speciation events to occur. This is the first time that such result has been obtain without any bias from an external expert designed natural selection mechanism. This has been possible to achieve because our system is complex enough, with hundred of thousand of "intelligent" agents with unique evolving behavioral models, for natural selection to emerge from the interaction of the individuals with their environment.

More information about our project is available here.

So what brings similar non-standard genotype / phenotype individuals close enough together for them to reproduce in your model?

They have the capability to perceive potential mates at distance and to choose to move in their direction.