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Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world. These patterns recur in different contexts and can sometimes be modelled mathematically . Natural patterns include symmetries , trees , spirals , meanders , waves , foams , tessellations , cracks and stripes. [ 1 ]
Symmetry is one class of patterns in nature whereby there is near-repetition of the pattern element, either by reflection or rotation. While sponges and placozoans represent two groups of animals which do not show any symmetry (i.e. are asymmetrical), the body plans of most multicellular organisms exhibit, and are defined by, some form of symmetry.
This article describes symmetry from three perspectives: in mathematics, including geometry, the most familiar type of symmetry for many people; in science and nature; and in the arts, covering architecture, art, and music. The opposite of symmetry is asymmetry, which refers to the absence of symmetry.
A drawing of a butterfly with bilateral symmetry, with left and right sides as mirror images of each other.. In geometry, an object has symmetry if there is an operation or transformation (such as translation, scaling, rotation or reflection) that maps the figure/object onto itself (i.e., the object has an invariance under the transform). [1]
Fish: Dorsal view of right-bending (left) and left-bending (right) jaw morphs [4]. Many flatfish, such as flounders, have eyes placed asymmetrically in the adult fish.The fish has the usual symmetrical body structure when it is young, but as it matures and moves to living close to the sea bed, the fish lies on its side, and the head twists so that both eyes are on the top.
Peloria or a peloric flower is the aberration in which a plant that normally produces zygomorphic flowers produces actinomorphic flowers instead. This aberration can be developmental, or it can have a genetic basis: the CYCLOIDEA gene controls floral symmetry. Peloric Antirrhinum plants have been produced by knocking out this gene. [5]
The recursive nature of some patterns is obvious in certain examples—a branch from a tree or a frond from a fern is a miniature replica of the whole: not identical, but similar in nature. Similarly, random fractals have been used to describe/create many highly irregular real-world objects, such as coastlines and mountains.
Bilateria (/ ˌ b aɪ l ə ˈ t ɪər i ə /) [5] is a large clade or infrakingdom of animals called bilaterians (/ ˌ b aɪ l ə ˈ t ɪər i ə n /), [6] characterised by bilateral symmetry (i.e. having a left and a right side that are mirror images of each other) during embryonic development.