Using Bubbles To Model The Growth Of Sea Urchin Skeletons

Sea urchin skeletons (tests) exhibit patterns and shapes akin to those produced by clusters of bubbles. We advance theoretical morphology, the discipline in which mathematical modeling and computer simulation are utilised to describe organism growth and form, by introducing a new computational model that simulates sea urchin skeleton growth. The computational model incorporates mathematical and physical principles associated with bubble close-packing arrangements and interactions to emulate biological processes associated with sea urchin skeleton growth. We consider four biological processes: plate interactions, gapping, addition, and growth. Our computational model can be used to describe the evolutionary morphological changes observed among sea urchin skeletons.

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