Computer simulation of biological evolution in structured populations

Public license software package 'Altruist'
by Agner Fog

Contents:

• introduction
   
• simulation of group selection models
   
• simulation of punctuated equilibria
   
• download program
   
• technical description and version history
   
• discussion board
   

Introduction

Altruist is a software package for simulation of genetic evolution in structured or viscous populations. The purpose is to test certain scientific models. The program is free to use (public license).

Several simulation models are supported for the simulation of group selection, peak shifts, Wright's shifting balance, punctuated equilibria, speciation, and metaadaptation. 

The program runs on the standard PC/Windows platform. It has a full-featured user interface with many options for graphic and numeric representation of results, as well as file output. There is context-sensitive help everywhere in the program. The source code is available so that new models can be compiled.

Publications

• Agner Fog: Simulation of Evolution in Structured Populations: The Open Source Software Package Altruist. Biotech Software & Internet Report. Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 226-229. 2000.

• A Group Selection Model of Territorial War, Xenophobia and Altruism in Humans and other Primates. Proceedings of the XV world congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences Lisbon 2006. Publishers of British Archaeological Reports, Oxford 2009.

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