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document-evolution

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Project Description

document-evolution is an open-source project that uses evolutionary mechanisms to demonstrate the ability for simple creatures to evolve over a period of time. The user can also interact with the creatures on screen through interactive methods (described below).

This project was designed to move away from mitosis (asexual) non-reproductive type evolution simulators.

Techniques

Survival

The basis for any evolution simulator is presenting an environment where it is difficult to survive for the creatures living inside. Creatures have the ability to die in a variety of fashions: old age, starvation, poisoning, being eaten by a predator, disease, heat stroke, hypothermia, or territorial fights among males.

Creature Attributes

Creatures have basic abilities of vision, hearing, and movement built into them upon start of the simulation. Each creature uses these senses and abilities to seek food, avoid predators, and look for potential mates. Each creature has a gender, an age, a genome, and how attractive they are associated with it.

Sexual Activity

Sexual reproduction occurs between the sexes when not fighting for survival. Both nutritional necessity and mortal danger take precedent over sexual reproduction. Creatures must be sexually mature to reproduce and not be too old (impotence/infirtility). During a period where a creature is in heat they will seek a partner that is at least as attractive as themselves (determined by speed, strength, and physical attributes). However, towards the end of heat, the creatures will mate out of necessity rather than looking for the most suitable partner.

Sexual Reproduction

When sexual reproduction occurs, the genome (represented by two genes, a dominant and a recessive) will be passed along to the child in the womb of the mother. It is based upon random RNA strands (1/2 of the parent) being placed in either the dominant or recessive slots. To be blunt, it is a simplified version of Mendel's inheritance models. There are chances for random mutations to occur (generally 1 in 1000) on each of the genes, working randomly at either a beneficial level or a detrimental level. The mother carries the young in her womb for a period of time, and then will give birth to the young eventually.

Interaction

The observer (user) has the ability to interact on a limited basis with the environment through either the command line or commands in the simulation itself. The user can cause an epidemic flu to pass through the environment, an STD to start in the population, add new creatures with original genomes, add more food to the environment, put a toxic substance in the air (of which the creatures can grow tolerant of), or add a predator to the environment (configurable).

Comaptibility

The program can be compiles (binaries are available) for use in an X11 environment or in Microsoft Windows.