Antimere

/ˈæntɪmɪər/ noun

Definition

In biology, one of two corresponding parts of an organism that are mirror images of each other across a central plane, especially in symmetrical animals.

Etymology

From Greek 'anti' (opposite) + 'meros' (part). The term was coined in 19th-century biology to describe bilateral symmetry, where the left side is an antimere of the right side.

Kelly Says

Your left and right hands are antimeres—they're mirror images! This concept revolutionized how biologists understood evolution, because bilateral symmetry (having antimeres) gave ancient animals huge advantages: they could move in straight lines and hunt with directed vision, making them the ancestors of nearly all complex life.

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