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The Conversation
The Conversation
Kathleen Garland, PhD Candidate, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University

A secret mathematical rule has shaped the beaks of birds and other dinosaurs for 200 million years

The faces of living and extinct theropod dinosaurs. Left: Riya Bidaye; right: Indian Roller model (NHMUK S1987) from TEMPO bird project – MorphoSource.

Bird beaks come in almost every shape and size – from the straw-like beak of a hummingbird to the slicing, knife-like beak of an eagle.

We have found, however, that this incredible diversity is underpinned by a hidden mathematical rule that governs the growth and shape of beaks in nearly all living birds.

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