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For example, the face of a human being has a plane of symmetry down its centre, or a pine cone displays a clear symmetrical spiral pattern. Internal features can also show symmetry, for example the tubes in the human body (responsible for transporting gases, nutrients, and waste products) which are cylindrical and have several planes of symmetry.
This ancestral organism adopted an attached mode of life with suspension feeding, and developed radial symmetry. Even so, the larvae of all echinoderms are bilaterally symmetrical, and all develop radial symmetry at metamorphosis. Like their ancestor, the starfish and crinoids still attach themselves to the seabed while changing to their adult ...
Although radial symmetry is usually given as a defining characteristic in animals that have been classified in this group, there are clear exceptions and qualifications. Echinoderms , for example, exhibit unmistakable bilateral symmetry as larvae , and are now in the Bilateria .
Animals mainly have bilateral or mirror symmetry, as do the leaves of plants and some flowers such as orchids. [30] Plants often have radial or rotational symmetry, as do many flowers and some groups of animals such as sea anemones. Fivefold symmetry is found in the echinoderms, the group that includes starfish, sea urchins, and sea lilies. [31]
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.
All echinoderms share three main characteristics. When mature, echinoderms have a pentamerous radial symmetry. While this can easily be seen in a sea star or brittle star, in the sea cucumber it is less distinct and seen in their five primary tentacles. The pentamerous radial symmetry can also be seen in their five ambulacral canals. [37]
Echinoderms differ from chordates and their other relatives in three conspicuous ways: they possess bilateral symmetry only as larvae – in adulthood they have radial symmetry, meaning that their body pattern is shaped like a wheel; they have tube feet; and their bodies are supported by dermal skeletons made of calcite, a material not used by ...
Of all echinoderms, the Ophiuroidea may have the strongest tendency toward five-segment radial (pentaradial) symmetry. The body outline is similar to that of starfish, in that ophiuroids have five arms joined to a central body disk. However, in ophiuroids, the central body disk is sharply marked off from the arms.