 The works on the origins of replicators tie in with the notion of the reproducer proposed by Griesemer (2000a,b, 2002, 2005; Wimsatt &amp; Griesemer 2007), although it was published first, based on a circulated manuscript by Griesemer, by Szathmáry and Maynard Smith (1997). A reproducer is an entity that develops and has a material overlap between the “parent” and “progeny”. This causal relationship between parents and progeny is called “progeneration”, the “increase in numerically distinct objects of a given kind”. Reproduction is a composite process of development and progeneration, leading to objects that are themselves capable of development and progeneration. Thus, the reproducer concept extends the notion of a developmental system.