  Genetic information and environmental factors determine the path of an
individuals life and therefore, the evolution of its entire species. We have
succeeded in proposing and studying a model that captures this idea. In our
model, a renewable resource extended throughout the environment provides the
energy necessary to sustain life, including movement and reproduction. Since
the resource doesn't regrow immediately, it generates competition between
individuals and therefore provides a natural selection pressure from which
evolution of the genetic traits is observed. As a result of this, several
phenomena characteristic of living systems emerge from this model without
having to introduce them explicitly. These include speciation and punctuated
equilibrium, competitive exclusion, and altruistic behaviour from selfish
rules.
