title: Evolutionary dynamics of biological games.
abstract: Darwinian dynamics based on mutation and selection form the core of mathematical models for adaptation and coevolution of biological populations. The evolutionary outcome is often not a fitness-maximizing equilibrium but can include oscillations and chaos. For studying frequency-dependent selection, game-theoretic arguments are more appropriate than optimization algorithms. Replicator and adaptive dynamics describe short- and long-term evolution in phenotype space and have found applications ranging from animal behavior and ecology to speciation, macroevolution, and human language. Evolutionary game theory is an essential component of a mathematical and computational approach to biology.
authors.affiliation: Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Department of Mathematics, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 1 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. martin_nowak@harvard.edu
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sigmund
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D005716:Game Theory; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D012641:Selection, Genetic