Revisiting Fibonacci Spirals in Nature: New Insights from Ancient Fossils.
A new study challenges the belief that Fibonacci spirals in plants are an ancient and highly conserved feature, dating back to the earliest stages of plant evolution. Researchers examined the spirals in the leaves and reproductive structures of a fossilized plant dating back 407 million years and discovered that all of the spirals observed in this particular species did not follow the Fibonacci sequence. The findings suggest that non-Fibonacci spirals were ancient in clubmosses, overturning the view that all leafy plants started out growing leaves that followed the Fibonacci pattern, and that Fibonacci spirals emerged separately multiple times throughout plant evolution.