Visualizing Adaptive Evolutionary Activity of Allele Tokens and of Phenotypic Equivalence Classes of Alleles

We present a method for visualizing the important adaptive dynamics in evolving systems. The method consists of measuring evolutionary activity, (as conceived by Bedau and Packard) of components of evolving systems and then plotting this as a function of time. This method has already been applied to individual alleles and whole genotypes. We extend the method to phenotypically equivalent types of alleles and apply it to data generated by Packard’s Bugs model, a simple artificial system that consists of agents with sensorimotor genes competing for resources in a two-dimensional world. One novelty of the Packard model studied here is that it allows the evolution of sensory thresholds—a simple form of the evolution of evolvability. Plotting the evolutionary activity of phenotypically equivalent types of alleles provides an especially vivid empirical quantitative picture of the significant adaptive phenomena in