Allelomimesis: "Three is a crowd"

Abstract

Allelomimesis has recently been found to be an appropriate mechanism that explains the power-law cluster or group size distribution of aggregating systems in nature. A further investigation of this model reveals the emergence of an optimally stable group size (s = 3) that maximizes the average time that an agent fixates onto a behavioral attribute. This paper also relates the result to striking examples of the optimality of groups of three in two aggregating systems observed in nature namely Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) and Marmots (Marmota flaviventris).