Animal Biology (Zoology): Animal body plans and symmetry · Symmetry and Cephalization
Learn how radial, bilateral and asymmetric body plans relate to how animals live, move and sense the world.
Try 3 questions
1. What defines bilateral symmetry in an animal?
- Its body is divided into repeated segments
- One plane divides it into mirror halves
- Several planes divide it into equal parts
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Answer: One plane divides it into mirror halves
A bilaterally symmetric animal has a single plane of symmetry, the sagittal plane, which yields left and right mirror halves.
2. How many planes passing through its central axis can split a jellyfish into similar halves?
- Several planes
- No plane at all
- Exactly one plane
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Answer: Several planes
Radial symmetry means body parts are arranged around a central axis, so several planes through that axis produce similar halves.
3. Why does radial symmetry suit animals that are attached or drift freely?
- It reduces how much food they need
- It lets them swim faster in one direction
- Food and threats can arrive from any side
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Answer: Food and threats can arrive from any side
An animal that does not travel in one direction meets its surroundings equally from all sides, so sensing and capturing all around is an advantage.
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