title: Extended evolution: A conceptual framework for integrating regulatory networks and niche construction.
abstract: This paper introduces a conceptual framework for the evolution of complex systems based on the integration of regulatory network and niche construction theories. It is designed to apply equally to cases of biological, social and cultural evolution. Within the conceptual framework we focus especially on the transformation of complex networks through the linked processes of externalization and internalization of causal factors between regulatory networks and their corresponding niches and argue that these are an important part of evolutionary explanations. This conceptual framework extends previous evolutionary models and focuses on several challenges, such as the path-dependent nature of evolutionary change, the dynamics of evolutionary innovation and the expansion of inheritance systems.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.|Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico.|Marine Biological Laboratory, Wood Hole, Massachusetts.|Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Manfred D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Laubichler
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Renn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D012919:Social Behavior