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Animal behaviour

How self-organization evolves

Self-organized systems can evolve by small parameter shifts that produce large changes in outcome. Concepts from mathematical ecology show how the way swarming bees dance helps to achieve unanimous decisions.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Different patterns of dance-language performance in nectar foragers and nest-site scouts.

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Correspondence to P. Kirk Visscher.

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Visscher, P. How self-organization evolves. Nature 421, 799–800 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/421799a

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