Challenge
This article was about the mathematics that occurs naturally in the animal kingdom, so this challenge
is about spotting patterns in relation to the breeding of rabbits. Suppose we use the letter B to
represent a pair of baby rabbits and the letter A to represent a pair of adult rabbits. We will assume
that baby rabbits become adult rabbits after 1 month and that each pair of adult rabbits produces a
pair of baby rabbits. We will also assume that the rabbits do not die.
In other words, we are saying that each month:
B becomes A
A becomes AB
Complete this table to simulate the breeding of one pair of baby rabbits over the first 10 months.
Month
Distribution of Pairs of Rabbits
Total number of
Rabbit Pairs
January
B
1
February
A
1
March
AB
2
April
ABA
3
May
June
July
August
September
October
Can you spot the pattern in the total number of rabbit pairs? Could you find a general
formula? Does this same pattern appear anywhere else in nature?