Kristina Hillesland
I describe the way I have used both actual toys (lego bricks) and microbes as toy models to explore a topic in evolutionary biology that has had scant theoretical development: the early stages of coevolution of a microbial mutualism. Together these models generate insights that appear to be generalizable to systems that are not microorganismal. I discuss toy models in general, then reflect on the use of microorganisms as living experimental toy models. I focus on why these findings may be generalizable, and how using two forms of toy model sequentially can help to ensure such generalizability.
