Researchers 3D Print Flowers to Study Plant Evolution

Biologist Eric Campos had a problem: he was looking for a quantitative way to study how flower shape might affect the behavior of flower pollinators. He needed a way to describe and build various flower shapes using numbers instead of phrases, so he and his colleagues reduced the complexity of floral, 3-dimensional shapes into a few key 'traits' using 3D printed artificial flowers. They studied the preference of a hawkmoth in going to the two differently shaped flowers they created. You can read the whole story here: http://3dprint.com/58393/3d-printed-flower-study/


Below is a photo of a hawkmoth (from infrared video) going to a flower in the lower left in the array of artificial flowers:
http://3dprint.com/wp-content/upload...4/visual_5.jpg