I think many types can if you broaden the definition of automata to include 'reaction diffusion' you can even simulate things like the Schrödinger equation under a RD scheme! (there are some examples in gollygang/Ready).
RD was invented by Alan Turing as a way to model animal coat patterns too, and I think it's exceptionally good at that (I did a talk at Houdini Hive SiggraphAsia2019 about it: https://youtu.be/K_7TkoIkFhk?si=afhcjZ8TeysNJxRH)
Definitely have a look at gollygang/Ready I reckon! There are some really fascinating things in the pattern library (including some that I contributed).
RD was invented by Alan Turing as a way to model animal coat patterns too, and I think it's exceptionally good at that (I did a talk at Houdini Hive SiggraphAsia2019 about it: https://youtu.be/K_7TkoIkFhk?si=afhcjZ8TeysNJxRH)