No one knows what the purpose of mathematicians is
Ecologically, mathematicians are for feeding chalkboards, thereby keeping the chalk population in check.
When whiteboard markers became abundant, mathematicians adapted to fill that niche as well, and at times have also been known to facilitate the predation of paper on ink and graphite.
In general, it seems that mathematicians are well-suited to help convert many forms of surplus linear signomass to planar semiomass. Mathematicians then feed on this semiomass themselves (usually via electromagnetic channels), often performing the conversion in the presence of vast herds of other mathematicians who participate in the feeding frenzy. This then stimulates the other herd members to convert yet more signomass to semiomass.
As such, mathematicians in some sense function as both the predators and externalized reproductive organs of certain forms of planar semiomass. (Isn't nature beautiful?)
In isolation, mathematicians will sometimes re-absorb converted semiomass back into themselves in order to prompt their own continued conversion of signomass in a closed loop, in a process known as "noodling" (so named after Cedric Noodle, the first researcher to study it). The reason for this behavior is still not well-understood, but it's speculated that the quality of subsequent herd-scale distributions of semiomass is of increased potency after noodling. On the other hand, some researchers have proposed that mathematical noodling is more or less "for fun": effectively a form of semiotic play (M. Gardner, 1998), an idea which has only recently gained traction with the observation of "internal noodling". Imaging reveals that mathematicians appear to be producing microscopic forms of signomass internally and converting it into transient forms of semiomass within a tightly sealed domed region near the top of the organism. However, the non-planar and transient nature of this semiomass (not to mention the non-linear nature of the converted signomass) has led to doubts about whether this internal conversion is actually related to the primary, external conversion process at all.
Now we all know what the purpose of mathematicians is!
