Simulation of evolutionary scenarios in biological populations and the Extended Fitness hypothesis
Evolutionary Simulations, Extended Phenotypes, Graph networks
The impact of extended phenotypes within the contemporary evolutionary theory is controversial. The extended phenotype theory states that gene expression has effects beyond the body of the individual that possesses it, affecting the evolutionary outcomes of other co-located peers. The extended fitness hypothesis proposes that individuals with sufficient genetic similarity can use each other’s extended phenotypes, therefore increasing the overall group chance of survival and reproduction. This work aims to model this interactions through random scale-free networks and investigate the impact of extended phenotypes and its effects on the reproductive success of individuals within groups capable of producing and sharing them. Advantages provided by the use of extended phenotypes made avaliable by similar neighbors may provide a group-wide evolutionary incentive for building and sharing them, and this balance is measured in different behahior model simulations.