The surprisingly similar bodies of sharks and dolphins, which followed entirely separate evolutionary histories separated by 300 million years — yet both have nearly identical dorsal fins and other common features.

The reason is that both went through similar evolutionary “computations” to adapt to the same set of forces — in this case, the complex patterns of turbulence in water.

  • Salingaros, Nikos A., and Michael W. Mehaffy. "Ch 15. Computational Irreducibility" In Design for a Living Planet: Settlement, Science, & the Human Future. Design for a Living Planet: Settlement, Science, & the Human Future. Levellers/Sustasis Press and Vajra Publications, 2015. Digital Library
Wikimedia Commons/Poco a Poco, Arnaud25

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  • "Figures." In Design for a Living Planet: Settlement, Science, & the Human Future. DFLAP. Levellers/Sustasis Press and Vajra Publications, 2015.
  • Mehaffy, Michael W., and Nikos Angelos Salingaros. "Ch 15. Computational Irreducibility." In Design for a Living Planet: Settlement, Science, & the Human Future, 156-164. Design for a Living Planet: Settlement, Science, & the Human Future. Levellers/Sustasis Press and Vajra Publications, 2015.