There’s a reason fashion designers look to animal prints for inspiration. Creatures have evolved a dizzying array of patterns: stripes, spots, diamonds, chevrons, hexagons and even mazelike designs.

Scientists may have finally solved the mystery of how some animals get their stripes and spots. There are many animals that have these patterns on their skin or fur—including tigers, zebras and the ...

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 ...

How did animals get their spots and stripes? New research upgrades Alan Turing’s theory on the formation of skin patterns. When Ben Alessio visited the Birch Aquarium in San Diego, he found an ...

Nature is full of many patterned animals, from the stripes on zebras, spots on leopards, to the intricate details on sea creatures. Researchers have studied for a long time the biological explanation ...

Chris and Martin explain why creatures' patterns are so important to their survival. Chris and Martin explain why creatures' patterns are so important to their survival. Animals and insects use ...

How the leopard got its spots and the zebra its stripes might not be just-so stories much longer. Biologists are beginning to pinpoint the molecular mechanisms animals use to deck themselves out with ...

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. The natural world presents a palette of beautiful complexity. From the ...

Nature has no shortage of patterns, from spots on leopards to stripes on zebras and hexagons on boxfish. But a full explanation for how these patterns form has remained elusive. Now engineers at the ...