Premium
The morphogenesis of molluscan shells: A mathematical account using biological parameters
Author(s) -
Løvtrup Søren,
Løvtrup Michael
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/jmor.1051970105
Subject(s) - morphogenesis , biology , enhanced data rates for gsm evolution , mantle (geology) , process (computing) , paleontology , computer science , telecommunications , biochemistry , gene , operating system
In attempts to account mathematically for the morphogenesis of biological structures it is important that the parameters chosen for the purpose should be “biological,” that is, they should refer directly to the growth processes through which the structure is formed. Molluscan shells are formed by accretional growth at the mantle edge, and the parameters used for the mathematical description of their formation should therefore refer to events taking place there. In the best of previous attempts to solve this problem, two out of three form parameters have met with this demand, but it was not possible to eliminate β, half the apical angle of the cone on which lie the centers of successive whorls. It is shown here that β may be eliminated for many forms of molluscan shells, and when this is not the case β may indeed be referred to processes taking place at the mantle edge.