Abstract
Direct measurements on 375 million year old stromatoporoid sponges show that the astrorhizal canals (excurrent flow channels) have a near-optimal architecture; they are configured such that the energetic costs to construct and operate these fluid transport systems averaged only 2.54% above those of equivalent Murray's Law systems, the theoretical minimum. The average cost incurred by the fluid transport system in stromatoporoids was a factor of three closer to the Murray's Law optimum than are vessel networks in the circulatory system of mammals.
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LaBarbera, M. The astrorhizae of fossil stromatoporoids closely approximate an energetically optimal fluid transport system. Experientia 49, 539–541 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01955158
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01955158