Basic Limitations of Self-Organisation on Examples of High- and Low-Integrated Very Complex Systems (Mammalian Skeleton Elements and Mammalian Fossil Assemblages): from Empirical Evidences to the Theory

Abstract

A high variety is a characteristic attribute of any material phenomena and processes involving living matter, i.e., very complex systems (VCC). We verified the presence of fundamental constraints on size/shape diversity and self-organization on the example of a mammalian skeleton in four orders (41 species.) The properties of more than 4700 multidimensional descriptive models of VCC were studied. A self-organization index R (0 ≤ R ≤ 1) was calculated for each model, its range of variability was mainly limited to the interval from ~0.10 to ~0.30. The concepts of an abstract Ashby’ regulator and the Shannon-Hartley theorem were used to explain the variation in the empirical data. It was concluded that there are significant constraints on a quality of morphological diversity regulation and the possible level of self-organization of VCCs for steady states.