Occurrence of Fibonacci numbers in development and structure of animal forms: Phylogenetic observations and epigenetic significance
John J. Wille
Bioderm Technologies, Inc., Chesterfield, UK.
DOI: 10.4236/ns.2012.44033   PDF    HTML     11,177 Downloads   18,583 Views   Citations

Abstract

A survey of zoological literature affirmed the wide occurrence of Fibonacci numbers in the organization of acellular and prokaryotic life forms as well as in some eukaryotic protistans and in the embryonic development and adult forms of many living and fossil remains of metazoan animals. A detailed comparative analysis of the axial skeleton of a fossil fish and humans revealed a new rule of the “nested triad” of bones organized along the proximal to distal axis of limb appendages. This growth pattern and its ubiquity among living vertebrates appear to underlie a profound rule of pattern formation that is dictated in part by the genetics and epigenetic mechanisms of stem cell clonal development.

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Wille, J. (2012) Occurrence of Fibonacci numbers in development and structure of animal forms: Phylogenetic observations and epigenetic significance. Natural Science, 4, 216-232. doi: 10.4236/ns.2012.44033.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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