Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

What is radial symmetry? Give an example.

seo-qna
SearchIcon
Answer
VerifiedVerified
451.8k+ views
Hint:The radial symmetry is a symmetry in which the sides exhibit correspondence or regularity of parts around the central axis.It is lacking left and the right sides.It is in contrast to the bilateral symmetry that is more common than the radial symmetry.

Complete answer:
The symmetry is a characteristic of the certain organisms in which there is regularity in the parts on a plane or around an axis. An organism that is symmetrical would have a balanced distribution of the duplicate parts on each side of the axis. It may not be necessarily an exact duplicate but an approximate repetition.An example of the symmetry in the organisms is the bilateral symmetry.The radial symmetry is a symmetry in which the sides exhibit correspondence or regularity of the parts around a central axis. It is lacking left and the right sides. It is in contrast to the bilateral symmetry that is more common than the radial symmetry.

Most of the animals exhibit bilateral symmetry where there is a left and a right side along with the midline. Relatively fewer animals exhibit the radial symmetry. Some of them are the sea stars, the sea anemones, the jellyfish, and the sea urchins. In the plant kingdom, though, there are many flowers exhibiting the radial symmetry.Special forms of the radial symmetry are tetramerous and pentamerous.
Biradial symmetry is a combination of the radial and the bilateral symmetries, such as that of the ctenophores that are the comb jellies.

Note:The radial symmetry is the arrangement of the body of an animal in which the parts are arranged symmetrically around a central axis. Such an arrangement allows the animal to interact with its environment from all the directions. It is the most commonly associated with a sessile way of life.