#FIBONACCI SEQUENCE IN NATURE VIDEO SERIES#

The leaves of ancient clubmosses had an entirely distinct evolutionary history to the other major groups of plants today such as ferns, conifers and flowering plants. It indicates that non-Fibonacci spirals were common in ancient clubmosses and that the evolution of leaf spirals diverged into two separate paths. This transforms scientists understanding of Fibonacci spirals in land plants. The findings revealed that leaves and reproductive structures in Asteroxylon mackiei, were most commonly arranged in non-Fibonacci spirals that are rare in plants today. The site contains evidence of some of the planet's earliest ecosystems - when land plants first evolved and gradually started to cover the earth's rocky surface making it habitable. The exceptionally preserved fossil was found in the famous fossil site the Rhynie chert, a Scottish sedimentary deposit near the Aberdeenshire village of Rhynie. Using digital reconstruction techniques the researchers produced the first 3D models of leafy shoots in the fossil clubmoss Asteroxylon mackiei - a member of the earliest group of leafy plants. However, an international team led by the University of Edinburgh has overthrown this theory with the discovery of non-Fibonacci spirals in a 407-million-year old plant fossil. Why Fibonacci spirals, also known as nature's secret code, are so common in plants has perplexed scientists for centuries, but their evolutionary origin has been largely overlooked.īased on their widespread distribution it has long been assumed that Fibonacci spirals were an ancient feature that evolved in the earliest land plants and became highly conserved in plants. Sunflower heads, pinecones, pineapples and succulent houseplants all include these distinctive spirals in their flower petals, leaves or seeds. Spirals are common in plants, with Fibonacci spirals making up over 90% of the spirals. Named after the Italian mathematician, Leonardo Fibonacci, this sequence forms the basis of many of nature's most efficient and stunning patterns.

#FIBONACCI SEQUENCE IN NATURE VIDEO SERIES#

Whether it is the vast swirl of a hurricane or the intricate spirals of the DNA double-helix, spirals are common in nature and most can be described by the famous mathematical series the Fibonacci sequence. This negates a long held theory about the evolution of plant leaf spirals, indicating that they evolved down two separate evolutionary paths. Instead, the ancient plants were found to have another type of spiral. Turning to botany, the authors demonstrate, through illustrative diagrams, the unbelievable connections between Fibonacci numbers and natural forms (pineapples, sunflowers, and daisies are just a few examples).The findings indicate that the arrangement of leaves into distinctive spirals, that are common in nature today, were not common in the most ancient land plants that first populated the earth's surface. They begin with a brief history of a distinguished Italian discoverer, who, among other accomplishments, was responsible for popularizing the use of Arabic numerals in the West. With admirable clarity, two veteran math educators take us on a fascinating tour of the many ramifications of the Fibonacci numbers.

All of which is astounding evidence for the deep mathematical basis of the natural world. Far from being just a curiosity, this sequence recurs in structures found throughout nature – from the arrangement of whorls on a pinecone to the branches of certain plant stems. In this simple pattern beginning with two ones, each succeeding number is the sum of the two numbers immediately preceding it (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ad infinitum). The most ubiquitous, and perhaps the most intriguing, number pattern in mathematics is the Fibonacci sequence. Thanks for watching! Remember to speed up the video when necessary! This is a YouTube Video, based on my earlier post on Fibonacci Numbers and the Mysterious Golden Ratio!

Fibonacci sequence in nature video