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Simple math explains dramatic beak shape variation in Darwin's finches

Scaling and shear link morphology, genotype and developmental geneticsFrom how massive humpbacks glide through the sea with ease to the efficient way fungal spores fly, applied mathematicians at Harvard have excavated the equations behind a variety of complex phenomena.The latest numerical feat by Otger Camp?and Michael Brenner, working closely with a team of Harvard evolutionary biologists led by Arhat Abzhanov, zeroes in on perhaps the most famous icon of evolution: the beaks of Darwin's finches.In a study appearing in the February 16 Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers demonstrate that simple changes in beak length and depth can explain the important morphological diversity of all beak shapes within the famous genus Geospiza.Broadly, the work suggests that a few, simple mathematical rules may be responsible for complicated biological adaptations.The investigation began at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, where Camp? a postdoctoral fellow

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