# Asymetrical Animals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678 "2023-01-23T21:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/1 "2023-01-23T21:06:56Z")
I think that a flounder is because it has a bottom and a top side with two eyes IIRC. But I wonder if there are any others. Maybe other sea creatures? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/2 "2023-01-23T21:10:46Z")
But aren’t flounders symmetrical when hatched? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/3 "2023-01-23T21:12:16Z")
[Fiddler crab](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fiddler_crab.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/4 "2023-01-23T21:14:45Z")
Lots of crabs have one claw way bigger than the other. Narwhals’ tusks are one tooth, thus they’re asymmetrical. Sponges, corals, etc. have little to no symmetry but are animals. Snails and sea snails and such with their shells. Crossbills quality in the bird class. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/5 "2023-01-23T21:17:43Z")
The sidehill gouger is asymmetrical. > **[Sidehill gouger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidehill_gouger)** > > In American folklore, a Sidehill gouger is a fearsome critter adapted to living on hillsides by having legs on one side of their body shorter than the legs on the opposite side. This peculiarity allows them to walk on steep hillsides, although only in one direction; when lured or chased into the plain, they are trapped in an endless circular path. Some claim these creatures play a large role, and in some cases, are responsible for the creation of hoodoos. The creature is variously known as t Si... ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/6 "2023-01-23T21:18:26Z")
Oh, and [Bjorn Borg](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/bjorn-borg-professional-tennis-legend-image-taken-color-slide-73754639.jpg) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/7 "2023-01-23T21:22:42Z")
Let’s not forget the Moties! ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/8 "2023-01-23T21:31:58Z")
I assume you mean on the outside, because inside we are asymmetrical of course (presumably along with a lot of other animals)! ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/9 "2023-01-23T21:33:19Z")
Lobsters too actually. Narwhals have a tusk in the center no? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/10 "2023-01-23T21:46:32Z")
No. _The most conspicuous characteristic of the male narwhal is a single long tusk, which is in fact a canine tooth that projects from the left side of the upper jaw, through the lip and forms a left-handed helical spiral._ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/11 "2023-01-23T23:05:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Let’s not forget the Moties! Won’t you be my Fyunch(click)? [![](https://i.postimg.cc/D0ZMc1Q5/moties.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/D0ZMc1Q5/moties.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/12 "2023-01-23T23:24:53Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Sponges, corals, etc. have little to no symmetry but are animals. Are corals individual animals or colonies of polyps? (I have no idea whether the polyps are symmetrical.). Because if we include colonies, we can go all meta and include bee and termite colonies. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/13 "2023-01-24T15:15:49Z")
Each disk of zoanthids is an individual animal. Coral with multiple polyps are a single animal. Of course, many of them live together in groups. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/14 "2023-01-24T15:31:23Z")
[Coral polyps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral#Anatomy) are symmetrical, they show [radial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetry_in_biology) symmetry instead of the more human bilateral symmetry . ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/15 "2023-01-24T15:51:35Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > Oh, and [Bjorn Borg](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/bjorn-borg-professional-tennis-legend-image-taken-color-slide-73754639.jpg) 🙂 Bjorn Borg’s got nothing on Matthias Schlitte: > **[Real-life Popeye has one superhuman arm](https://nypost.com/2014/06/20/real-life-popeye-has-one-superhuman-arm/)** > > Meet Matthias “Hellboy” Schlitte, the German arm wrestling phenomenon with one enormous arm. While his left arm is normal size, Schlitte’s right is Popeye-like due to a rare genetic defect that mak… ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/16 "2023-01-24T17:22:49Z")
[[Album] Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Summerville, SC, USA ![](https://i.imgur.com/QZTUwPs.jpeg?fb "Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Summerville, SC, USA") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/0BaNIMT) A Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Note that the red coloration veers off to one side. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/17 "2023-01-24T17:58:23Z")
I supposed the OP was asking about structural symmetry, as coloration would apply to giraffes, zebras, all manner of cows/horses/dogs/cats… ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/18 "2023-01-24T20:04:56Z")
Yeah that’s what I meant. Now that I think about it. So we have Flounder, the narwhal, the crossbill, we have crustaceans limbs and perhaps mollusks but I’m not sure about the anatomy there aside from the shell. Sponges and other amorphous beings might count but there’s no reason they couldn’t be symmetrical. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/19 "2023-01-24T20:09:26Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > The sidehill gouger is asymmetrical. Actually there are two types, the clockwise gouger and the counterclockwise gouger. They’ve evolved to be different species since they have trouble mating. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678/20 "2023-01-24T20:12:40Z")
There’s an old limerick about someone with a corkscrew part of their anatomy. It ends with the words “Left hand thread” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymetrical-animals/978678.md?page=2)