Mathematical Analysis of Fruit Fly Wings Hints at Evolution’s Limits
A painstaking study of wing morphology shows both the striking uniformity of individuals in a species and a subtle pattern of linked variations that evolution can exploit. The post Mathematical Analysis of Fruit Fly Wings Hints at Evolution’s Limits first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Two years ago, to prepare for an unusual photo shoot, a team of scientists plucked the wings from thousands of fruit flies and pressed each flake of iridescent tissue between glass plates. As often as not, the wing tore or folded, or an air pocket or errant piece of dust got trapped along with it, ruining the sample. Fly wings are “not like Saran wrap,” said Madhav Mani...
Originally published in Quanta Abstractions.
