It is demonstrated that a simple model for population dynamics can give rise to several evolutionary phenomena like periods of stasis, punctuated equilibria, coevolution of mutualism, and evolutionary stable strategies. The interactions between the individuals in the population are modelled by a variation of the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma in which noise may disturb the actions. Each individual has a strategy encoded in its genome, and those who perform well in the game get more offspring in the next generation. Due to mutations new species may appear, and under the selective pressure strategies which are both cooperative and unexploitable evolve.
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