Natural Selection Simulation
Darwin, visualised
Summary
Natural selection is the change in a population over generations as the individuals best suited to their environment leave more offspring. In this simulation, individuals try to match their environment with a "darkness" trait; within a few generations the population becomes camouflaged. Change the environment and watch it adapt.
In depth
In On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, Charles Darwin summed up the mechanism that shapes life with four simple observations: (1) individuals differ from one another (variation), (2) these differences are inherited, (3) not all of them can survive, because there is competition for scarce resources, (4) those best suited to their environment leave more offspring. The inevitable consequence of these four rules is evolution. This simulation is a tiny demonstration of that process: 60 individuals start with a random trait value, in each generation those that suit the environment reproduce to form the next generation, and a small random (Gaussian) mutation is added to the offspring. Within a few generations the population's average approaches the environment's value. If you suddenly change the environment, the population adapts again under the new pressure; the darkening of the peppered moth (Biston betularia) in industrial England is a dramatic real-life example.
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