title: Is evolvability involved in the origin of modular variation?
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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, United Kingdom. Andy.Gardner@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zuidema
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004777:Environment; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010641:Phenotype; D012641:Selection, Genetic