# Are there any truly asymmetric creatures?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-truly-asymmetric-creatures/559316>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 3, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-truly-asymmetric-creatures/559316 "2010-11-03T12:19:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-truly-asymmetric-creatures/559316/21 "2010-11-04T10:37:47Z")

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> [@Colophon](#):
>
> I’d never heard of [trichoplax](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichoplax). Now I want one.

I can’t comprehend that wiki at all. It says they have no internal organs or structures, then goes on to say that they can (but don’t always) reproduce sexually.

Can anyone enlighten me as to how this is possible?!? (I already asked my Mom, she won’t tell me. . .)

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**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-truly-asymmetric-creatures/559316/22 "2010-11-04T10:45:04Z")

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I’m going to guess – by each of the pair losing a small piece of itself, the two pieces somehow sticking together, and then the DNA somehow admixing between the two parts to create a new genome (with or without strand decoupling being involved)?

I’m sure someone who actually **knows** the answer will be along soon enough, though

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**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-truly-asymmetric-creatures/559316/23 "2010-11-04T10:50:16Z")

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> [@TruCelt](#):
>
> I can’t comprehend that wiki at all. It says they have no internal organs or structures, then goes on to say that they can (but don’t always) reproduce sexually.
> 
> Can anyone enlighten me as to how this is possible?!? (I already asked my Mom, she won’t tell me. . .)

Well many protozoa are single celled and still reproduce sexually. You don’t need organs to do that. All you need is some way to transfer genetic material form one organism to the other.

In the case of \*Trichoplax \* I would guess that some of the non-epidermal cells are shed into the water and there fuse with other cells shed by other individuals. The newly fused cells then settle down and grow into new critters.

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