Create an Evolution Simulator - How to Group Organisms into Species

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on creating an evolution simulator that generates a world with various environments and organisms that undergo random mutations during breeding. The primary challenge identified is the need for an automated method to classify organisms into species based on their genetic traits. The proposed solution involves defining species by their ability to breed, with a threshold of 95% similarity in traits, while acknowledging potential complications such as ring species. The goal is to achieve a stable ecosystem with diverse species and predator-prey dynamics.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of evolutionary biology concepts, particularly species classification.
  • Familiarity with genetic algorithms for simulating mutations.
  • Knowledge of programming languages suitable for simulation, such as Python or C++.
  • Experience with data visualization tools to represent species and their interactions.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research genetic algorithms for simulating evolutionary processes.
  • Explore clustering algorithms for species classification based on genetic traits.
  • Learn about the implications of ring species in evolutionary simulations.
  • Investigate data visualization libraries like Matplotlib or D3.js for representing simulation results.
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for game developers, evolutionary biologists, and computer scientists interested in simulation modeling and species classification in computational environments.

Airman
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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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