Multitude of strangely beautiful natural forms: Radiolaria, Foraminifera, Ciliata, diatoms, calcareous sponges, Siphonophora, star corals, starfishes, Protozoa, flagellates, brown seaweed, jellyfishes, sea-lilies, moss animals, sea-urchins, glass sponges, leptomedusae, horny corals, trunkfishes, true sea slugs, anthomedusae horseshoe crabs, sea-cucumbers, octopuses, bats, orchids, sea wasps, seahorse, a dragonfish, a frogfish, much more. All images black-and-white.

This paper focuses on the inheritance of human handedness and cerebral lateralization within the more general context of structural biological asymmetries. The morphogenesis of asymmetrical structures, such as the heart in vertebrates, depends upon a complex interaction between information coded in the cytoplasm and in the genes, but the polarity of asymmetry seems to depend on the cytoplasmic rather than the genetic code. Indeed it is extremely difficult to find clear-cut examples in which thedirectionof an asymmetry is under genetic control. (...) As one possible case, there is some evidence that the direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, of rotation of the abdomen in certain mutant strains ofDrosophilais controlled by a particular gene locus, although there appears to be some degree of confusion on this point. By contrast, it is much easier to find examples in which thedegreebut not the direction of asymmetry is under genetic control. For instance, there is a mutant strain of mice in which half of the animals displaysitus inversusof the viscera. The proportion has remained at one half despite many years of inbreeding, suggesting that the mutant allele effectively cancels the normalsitusand allows the asymmetry to be specified in random fashion.Although this account does not deny that the right hemisphere of humans may be the more specialized for certain functions, it does attribute a leading or dominant role to the left hemisphere (at least in most individuals). We suggest that so-called “right-hemisphere” functions are essentially acquired by default, due to the left hemisphere's prior involvement with speech and skilled motor acts; we note, for instance, that these right-hemisphere functions include rather elementary perceptual processes. But perhaps the more critical prediction from our account is that the phenomenon of equipotentiality should be unidirectional: the right (lagging) hemisphere should be more disposed to take over left-hemisphere functions following early lesions than is the left (leading) hemisphere to take over right-hemisphere functions. We note preliminary evidence that this may be so. (shrink)

The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in studies on the development, function and evolution of asymmetries in vertebrates, including amphibians. Here we discuss current knowledge of behavioral and anatomical asymmetries in amphibians. Behavioral laterality in the response of both adult and larval anurans to presumed predators and competitors is strong and may be related, respectively, to laterality in the telencephalon of adults and the Mauthner neurons of tadpoles. These behavior lateralities, however, do not seem to correlate with visceral (...) asymmetries in the same animals. We briefly compare what is known about the evolution and development of asymmetry in the structure and function of amphibians with what is known about asymmetries in other chordate and non‐chordate groups. Available data suggest that the majority of asymmetries in amphibians fall into two independent groups: (1) related to situs viscerum and (2) of a neurobehavioral nature. We find little evidence linking these two groups, which implies different developmental regulatory pathways and independent evolutionary histories for visceral and telencephalic lateralizations. Studies of animals other than standard model species are essential to test hypotheses about the evolution of laterality in amphibians and other chordates. BioEssays 26:512–522, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Thought-provoking essays on science as an integral part of the culture of our age from a leader in the scientific humanism movement. "A profoundly moving, brilliantly perceptive essay by a truly civilized man."--Scientific American.