Simulating Evolution: How Close Do Computer Models Come to Reality?

Darwin's theory of evolution is a simple but powerful framework that explains how complexity can come from simplicity: how everything biological around us - from the microbial biofilms on your teeth to the majestic redwood trees - emerged from the very simplest of beginnings. How exactly this happened is, of course, a matter of intense research. Each species is finely adapted to thrive in its environment, which in turn has shaped that species' evolutionary history. But those environmental forces exerted on a species occurred over a very long period of time, in the often very distant past. How can we understand which environmental features were responsible for which adaptations we see today?