IS EVOLVABILITY INVOLVED IN THE ORIGIN OF MODULAR VARIATION?

Andy Gardner; Willem Zuidema

doi:10.1554/03-056

We can help you reset your password using the email address linked to your BioOne Complete account.

Registered users receive a variety of benefits including the ability to customize email alerts, create favorite journals list, and save searches. Please note that a BioOne web account does not automatically grant access to full-text content. An institutional or society member subscription is required to view non-Open Access content. Contact helpdesk@bioone.org with any questions.

All Fields are Required

First Name

Last/Family Name

Password

Password Requirements: Minimum 8 characters, must include as least one uppercase, one lowercase letter, and one number or permitted symbol Valid Symbols for password:
~ Tilde
! Exclamation Mark
@ At sign
$ Dollar sign
^ Caret
( Opening Parenthesis
) Closing Parenthesis
_ Underscore
. Period

Confirm Password

Web Account created successfully

Andy Gardner,¹ Willem Zuidema²

¹Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, United Kingdom Andy.Gardner@ed.ac.uk
²Language Evolution and Computation Research Unit, Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Edinburgh, 40 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LL, United Kingdom

Abstract

Lipson et al. (2002) presented an elegant linear algebraic formalism to define and study the evolution of modularity in an artificial evolving system. They employed simulation data to support their suggestion that modularity arises spontaneously in temporally fluctuating systems in response to selection for enhanced evolvability. We show analytically and by simulation that their correlate of modularity is itself under selection and so is not a reliable indicator of selection for modularity per se. In addition, we question the relation between modularity and evolvability in their simulations, suggesting that this modularity cannot confer enhanced evolvability.

Citation Download Citation

Andy Gardner and Willem Zuidema "IS EVOLVABILITY INVOLVED IN THE ORIGIN OF MODULAR VARIATION?," Evolution 57(6), 1448-1450, (1 June 2003). https://doi.org/10.1554/03-056

Received: 22 January 2003; Accepted: 27 January 2003; Published: 1 June 2003