 Richard Dawkins introduced the distinction between replicators and vehicles in The Selfish Gene (1976). For his purposes, Dawkins found the contrast between genes and organisms too restrictive and specific. Everyone agrees that genes are replicators, but genes may not be the only replicators. Dawkins also argued that perhaps more inclusive entities than single genes might also function as replicators. At the very least, the possibility should not be ignored. So, Dawkins adopted “replicator” as a more inclusive and general term than “gene”. In The Extended Phenotype, he defined a replicator as “anything in the universe of which copies are made” (Dawkins 1982b: 83). He also introduced the term “vehicle” for those entities produced by replicators that help these replicators increase in numbers by interacting effectively with their environments. This distinction can be expressed in terms of either entities or processes. According to Dawkins, replicators function in replication, while vehicles function in environmental interaction.