Create an Evolution Simulator - How to Group Organisms into Species

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the development of an evolution simulator that aims to create a dynamic world populated by various species resulting from random mutations and breeding of a primitive organism. The creator intends to establish diverse environments and simulate complex relationships such as predator-prey dynamics. A significant challenge highlighted is the identification of species within the simulation. The proposed method involves using genetic similarity, with a threshold for breeding based on trait similarity. However, concerns arise regarding the complications of ring species and the need for an effective algorithm to group organisms into distinct species. The conversation emphasizes the importance of a robust system for species classification to facilitate meaningful observation and analysis of the simulated ecosystem.
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I am planning to make an evolution simulator fairly soon, and am wondering just what as been done like this before. My plan is to make a simulator in that I can create a "world" with many environments, release some type of primitive "organism" and than have random mutations occur when they breed. The ultimate goal is to be able to start with this one species, and after a lot of computations, have a stable "world" with different environments occupied by different species, predator prey relationships, and everything else.

As I plan this, I do have one issue. Unless I can have the computer identify species for me it will be very difficult for me to "see" what is going on (as all it will be is a lot of numbers). So what is a good way for the computer to identify species? If I use the definition that the species must be able to breed with each other (I can make it so they can only breed if two organisms have 95% similar traits or something like that), but then I will run into ring species problems, but on a vast scale. How can I get the computer to group animals into species?
 
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