Reconciling Explanations For The Evolution Of Evolvability

Keywords

evolutionary computation; Evolvability; gene regulatory networks

Abstract

Evolution’s ability to find innovative phenotypes is an important ingredient in the emergence of complexity in nature. A key factor in this capability is evolvability, or the propensity towards phenotypic variation. Numerous explanations for the origins of evolvability have been proposed, often differing in the role that they attribute to adaptive processes. To provide a new perspective on these explanations, experiments in this paper simulate evolution in gene regulatory networks, revealing that the type of evolvability in question significantly impacts the dynamics that follow. In particular, while adaptive processes result in evolvable individuals, processes that are either neutral or that explicitly encourage divergence result in evolvable populations. Furthermore, evolvability at the population level proves the most critical factor in the production of evolutionary innovations, suggesting that nonadaptive mechanisms are the most promising avenue for investigating and understanding evolvability. These results reconcile a large body of work across biology and inform attempts to reproduce evolvability in artificial settings.

Publication Date

6-9-2015

Publication Title

Adaptive Behavior

Volume

23

Issue

3

Number of Pages

171-179

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1177/1059712315584166

Socpus ID

84930714712 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84930714712

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