Cricketsim: a Genetic and Evolutionary Computer Simulation

We present cricketsim, an individual-based simulator of species and community dynamics that allows experimenters to manipulate genetic and evolutionary parameters as well as parameters affecting the simulated environment and its inhabitants. The simulator can model genotypic and phenotypic features of species, such as male signals and female preferences, as well as demographic and fitness-related features. The individual-based simulator creates a lattice (cellular) world in which males and females interact by moving, signaling/responding, and mating. One or more species evolves over simulation time as individuals of a species interact with others during its lifetime, possibly creating new offspring through successful mating. The program\'s design, parameters, execution and data collection are described, an example experiment is presented, and several applications are discussed.