CNRS Communication – July 17, 2025. Based on a scientific publication co-authored by Régis Chirat, researcher at the Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, together with Derek E. Moulton and Alain Goriely, professors at Oxford University: “Hierarchical mechanical patterns in morphogenesis: from mollusc shells to plants, fungi and animals”, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface on June 25, 2025.
In a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, researchers from the Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon and the University of Oxford propose a theoretical model explaining the formation of complex, fractal-like spines found in certain gastropod shells. Though the phenomenon was studied in mollusks, the authors suggest this growth dynamic could also apply to many other complex structures across the plant, fungal, and animal kingdoms.
Some gastropod shells are adorned with spiny structures that exhibit fractal-like complexity—in the mathematical sense, meaning their details repeat across different scales. These ornate features, long considered puzzling, are now better understood thanks to a physical model that couples mechanical instability with sequential growth.
The researchers demonstrate that the fractal spines on gastropod shells form when a mechanical instability in the secretory membrane periodically amplifies a self-similar pattern of microscopic folds that are mechanically generated in a continuous process. As the shell grows, this transformation leaves behind spiral ridges on the surface.
More information on CNRS website (in French)
References
Hierarchical mechanical patterns in morphogenesis: from mollusc shells to plants, fungi and animals. Derek E. Moulton, Alain Goriely and Régis Chirat
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