Fitness landscape
![Selection-weighted attraction graphing (SWAG) depiction of an empirical fitness landscape of a nine-mutation evolutionary pathway.[3] Nodes represent genotypes, which are attracted to neighboring nodes proportionally to the selection strength between them (higher selection strength groups nodes more closely). Color represents clusters of nodes, or fitness peaks. SWAG allows the visualization of such peaks and valleys from fitness data. SWAG landscapes may be visualized in either two dimensions (left), or a fitness, w, may be assigned to the third dimension (right).](/uploads/202412/17/SWAG_Fitness_Landscape4838.png)
In evolutionary biology, fitness landscapes or adaptive landscapes (types of Evolutionary landscapes) are used to visualize the relationship between genotypes and reproductive success. It is assumed that every genotype has a well-defined replication rate (often referred to as fitness). This fitness is the "height" of the landscape. Genotypes which are very similar are said to be "close" to each other, while those that are very different are "far" from each other. The set of all possible genotypes, their degree of similarity, and their related fitness values is then called a fitness landscape. The idea of a fitness landscape is a metaphor to help explain flawed forms in evolution, including exploits and glitches in animals like their reactions to supernormal stimuli.