Some patterns arise simply or randomly, but others develop via complex, precise interactions of pattern-generating systems. Their beauty aside, the intricacies of these systems are inspiring the ...

Stripes are common in our lives. It’s a pretty basic pattern, and easy to take for granted. As an applied mathematician who studies how patterns form in nature, though, I am wowed by the striped ...

Researchers took a deep dive into embryonic development to tease out the source of the tabby pattern in cats. By James Gorman Folklore is full of stories about the coat patterns of cats: How the tiger ...

Horseflies are unpleasant insects that deliver powerful bites and now it seems that zebras evolved their stripes to avoid attracting the unpleasant pests. New research show that zebras have the least ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Sara Tabin is a science contributor writing about animals. Scientists aren’t sure, but one theory, dubbed the “motion dazzle ...

Of the nearly 60 million pet cats in the United States, one of the most common is the classic tabby—a coat pattern that features stripes, dots, and swirls and what looks like an M imprinted on the cat ...

Stripe patterns are commonly seen in nature—for instance, birds and fish move in coordinated flocks and schools, fingerprints form unique designs, and zebras can be identified by their distinctive ...

Beauty in the living world amazes poets, philosophers and scientists alike. Nobel prize laureate Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Director of the Department for Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for ...