Multiple Ancestors

The Avida Petri dish can be seeded with multiple Ancestors, either the default ancestor or different Ancestors saved from a previous run. In this demonstration two copies of the default Ancestor are placed in the Petri dish. Their lineages are indicated by the yellow and purple color coding. The lineages compete, and in the case where the Ancestors are identical, which lineage “wins” the competition is determined purely randomly depending on which lineage most rapidly evolves adaptive traits.

Animation copyright by Robert T. Pennock, used by permission
http://www.msu.edu/~pennock5/research/Avida-ED.html