Anatomy of a superorganism -- structure and growth dynamics of army ant bivouacs
Anatomy of a superorganism -- structure and growth dynamics of army ant bivouacs
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超有机体的解剖——行军蚁营地的结构和生长动态
DOI：
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发表时间：
2021
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Michael Rubenstein
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Thomas Bochynek;Florian Schiffers;A. Aichert;O. Cossairt;S. Garnier;Michael Rubenstein
除了单细胞和多细胞生物外，在活动物中还有第三种类型的结构复杂性：不同的多细胞生物的机械自我组装成动态的，功能性结构的示例，这是陆军蚂蚁的最引人注目的例子之一。当受到影响时，拆卸时几乎不知道个人在形成过程中遵循的结构和规则。我们发现Bivouac中的蚂蚁的重量大约是其体重的八倍，而不管结构的大小或它们在其内部的位置，这表明蚂蚁在物理上的限制内。
Beyond unicellular and multicellular organisms, there is a third type of structural complexity in living animals: that of the mechanical self-assembly of groups of distinct multicellular organisms into dynamical, functional structures. One of the most striking examples of such structures is the army ant bivouac, a nest which self-assembles solely from the interconnected bodies of hundreds of thousands of individuals. These bivouacs are difficult to study because they rapidly disassemble when disturbed, and hence little is known about the structure and rules that individuals follow during their formation. Here we use a custom-built Computed Tomography scanner to investigate the details of the internal structure and growth process of army ant bivouacs. We show that bivouacs are heterogeneous structures, which throughout their growth maintain a thick shell surrounding a less dense interior that contains empty spaces akin to nest chambers. We find that ants within the bivouac do not carry more than approximately eight times their weight regardless of the size of the structure or their position within it. This observation suggests that bivouac size is not limited by physical constraints of the ants’ morphology. This study brings us closer to understanding the rules used by individuals to govern the formation of