biogeom

biogeom simulates and fits parametric profiles of radially or axially symmetric natural shapes in a single plane for quantitative analysis of shape and ontogenetic growth.

Key Features:

• Universal Parametric Equations: Implements novel universal parametric equations to generate profiles of diverse natural objects exhibiting radial or axial symmetry in a single plane.
• Growth-Rate Equations: Provides three distinct growth-rate equations that produce ontogenetic growth curves, including sigmoid curves for estimating maximum growth rates.
• Empirical Datasets: Includes boundary-coordinate datasets for bird eggs, flowers, fruits, linear and lanceolate leaves, ovate leaves, seeds, sea stars (starfish), and tree rings.
• Quantitative Outline Analysis: Enables quantification of intra- and interspecific similarity of natural outlines for comparative and statistical analyses.

Scientific Applications:

• Ecology: Quantifies shape similarity and variation to support studies of species diversity and morphological adaptation.
• Evolutionary Biology: Analyzes ontogenetic shape changes to inform studies of developmental pathways and evolutionary form variation.
• Botany and Zoology: Models plant and animal growth trajectories and profile shapes to investigate life-history strategies and morphological development.

Methodology:

Uses universal parametric equations and three explicit growth-rate equations (including sigmoid forms) to generate profiles and ontogenetic curves, employs empirical boundary-coordinate datasets for bird eggs, flowers, fruits, linear and lanceolate leaves, ovate leaves, seeds, sea stars, and tree rings, and computes quantitative measures of intra- and interspecific outline similarity.