# Speciation > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this concept within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Evolution / Lineage **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Speciation is the emergence of independently evolving lineages through barriers to gene flow, ecological divergence or other processes that maintain separation. ## Machine-Evolution Context Barricelli reported species-like differentiation in artificial populations; digital systems make lineage and interaction rules inspectable but require care when importing biological species concepts. ## Continuity and Evidence Boundary A software fork creates branching descent but is not automatically speciation in the Darwinian sense. The reproductive and ecological criteria must be specified. ## Relationships [[wiki/Species|Species]], [[wiki/Lineage|Lineage]], [[wiki/Branching Descent|Branching Descent]], [[wiki/Nils Aall Barricelli|Nils Aall Barricelli]] ## Sources / Provenance - Coyne and Orr, _Speciation_; IAS Barricelli history.