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We have even numbered legs because we all descended from a bilaterally symmetrical common ancestor and apparently bilateral symmetry is really good for building
by EamonnMR 5y ago
We have even numbered legs because we all descended from a bilaterally symmetrical common ancestor and apparently bilateral symmetry is really good for building mobile animals of all descriptions. What's really wild is how Starfish manage to develop out of an initially symmetrical larva.
- high_byte 5y agoI just love how hacker news threads can randomly lead you to wildly different conversations topics :D I would've never learned about this stuff otherwise but aren't starfish symmetrical either way? in the same way we have a head, but our head is also symmetric to itself. actually they have 5x symmetries :) would this be considered rotational invariance? idk
- EamonnMR 5y agoRadial symmetry is the term usually used for animals, yeah. It's just nuts that they switch body plans so radically.