Palaeo-bioinspiration draws on the fossil record to advance innovation

Abstract

Bioinspiration is an approach to innovation based on the observation of biological systems, of which only 0.1% remain since life began 3.7 billion years ago. Expanding the scope of bioinspiration to the fossil record greatly increases the diversity of potential biological "muses" and provides a means to understand the form, function and origins of current living systems. This extended approach, here termed "palaeo-bioinspiration", has already been applied to the fields of hydrodynamics, aeromechanics, actuators, protective technology and building construction. To reach its full potential, palaeo-bioinspiration has to overcome the misconception that fossils are "failures" or "primitive", and temper the widespread belief that extant biodiversity is inherently "optimised". By encouraging interdisciplinarity, investing in technical infrastructure and collaborating with both Natural Science institutions and industry, palaeo-bioinspiration could become a powerful asset within the bioinspiration domain.

Fig. 1. Hypothetical phylogenetic tree demonstrating the limited species diversity of extant life.

The tree represents all life that has existed on Earth; the three branches reaching the outermost edge (highlighted in green) represent species currently alive. Palaeo-bioinspiration takes advantage of the biological diversity of the entire tree.

Fig. 2

Four elements that underpin the advantages of integrating fossils into bioinspiration: the “biological library” concept, the evolution of form and function, the process of convergent evolution, and the integration of environmental context.