Abstract
The chapter emphasizes the geometrical invariance known as symmetry which is a striking feature of developmental morphology during embryogenesis. The chapter describes translational symmetry characterized by repeated units such as millipede segments and reflectional symmetry characterized by two or more sections of an organism looking the same to some level of detail on either side of a symmetry line. While it is possible to come up with plausible evolutionary reasons why organisms might be asymmetric in the first place, there is no obvious reason why they should all be asymmetric in the same direction. It is, after all, much easier to imagine a developmental mechanism for generating asymmetry than for biasing it to a given direction. The left-right axis thus presents several unique and deeply interesting theoretical issues. The most interesting asymmetry in vertebrate development is that along the left-right (LR) axis. However, the discussion is limited to include only invariant differences between the left and right sides of an animal's morphology. This specifically excludes pseudo-random characteristics such as animal coat colors and minor stochastic deviations due to developmental noise.
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