Re-running evolution

Can you replay evolution ? Yes. Unfortunately the article doesn't go into many details though.

Blount, Lenski and Losos examined a number of different types of laboratory experiments, including parallel replay experiments, in which identical populations of an organism are separately evolved under identical conditions, and analytic replay experiments, in which specimens are frozen from a parallel replay experiment and then resurrected and re-evolved from different points in time. Blount, Lenski and Losos also examined experiments that attempt to replicate evolution in natural settings. Only a few such experiments exist to date, and their review of these experiments indicated a high degree of repeatability in evolutionary responses to different historical conditions.

Their review of comparative studies of "natural experiments" further illuminated evidence of evolution's predictability. Similar features can independently evolve in multiple species—for example, anole lizards of the Caribbean, which separately evolved traits such as the length of their legs and tails to ease their life in their specific habitats. Yet convergence in evolution does not always occur, as their review shows; contingency can play a strong role in divergent evolution of various traits.  

"What we clearly see is that both convergence and lack of convergence occur a lot in the natural world," Losos said. "It's not useful just to keep adding to the two lists. The real question that people are now turning to is: Why does convergence occur sometimes and not others? That is where research is now headed. That's the question we need to focus on."

https://phys.org/news/2018-11-replaying-tape-life.html