Science Questions

If symmetry is sexy, what about flatfish?

If symmetry and attractiveness go hand-in-hand what does it mean for the flounder, those fishes at the bottom of the sea? Tina Bearkat

Robert - Symmetry is good but it isn’t always good.  Like everything else in evolution when selection is strong enough it will change things.  The benefits of being able to see for a flounder clearly outweight the benefits of symmetry and so evolution has shaped it.  It yet again shows there are many different ways of surviving and reproducing in nature.

February 2009