A mathematical secret of lizard camouflage

28 Jan 2022

Results published in the Journal Physical Review Letters."Lizard Skin Patterns and the Ising Model" of the work by the group of Prof. Michel Milinkovitch, (UINIGE) Department of Genetics and Evolution, and our Director Stanislav Smirnov (UNIGE), has succeeded in explaining the complex distribution of scales in the ocellated lizard by means of a simple equation.

"The shape-shifting clouds of starling birds, the organization of neural networks or the structure of an anthill: nature is full of complex systems whose behaviors can be modeled using mathematical tools. The same is true for the labyrinthine patterns formed by the green or black scales of the ocellated lizard. This multidisciplinary team from the University of Geneva explains, thanks to a very simple mathematical equation, the complexity of the system that generates these patterns. This discovery contributes to a better understanding of the evolution of skin color patterns: the process allows for many different locations of green and black scales but always leads to an optimal pattern for the animal survival."

Image: The patterns of the ocellated lizard are predictable by a mathematical model. (c) UNIGE / Michel Milinkovitch

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