Turing Patterns: How Mathematics Explains Animal Spots and Stripes

The Hidden Order Behind Animal Markings

Zebras, cheetahs, giraffes, tigers, fish, insects — they all have spots and stripes. What looks like the random whimsy of nature can actually be explained in a remarkable way by a single, elegant mathematical model. A model that turned our understanding of life’s development upside down, laid the foundations of mathematical biology, and gave rise to some of the most beautiful patterns in the natural world.

What Are Turing Patterns?

Why do animals have spots and stripes? How did Alan Turing manage to revolutionize biology? And what practical insights have scientists drawn from Turing’s model of morphogenesis?

These are the questions at the heart of one of the most fascinating intersections of mathematics and nature — and the answers are far more surprising than you might expect.

How Turing Patterns Changed Science

Watch the latest episode to find out: Turing Patterns. The Mathematics of Nature // Vital Math