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why are most animals single ended (lemmy.ml)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/askbiologists

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This is more of an evolutionary biology question but I thought I'd ask bc I couldn't fibd anything on it

Specifically what I'm wondering is why the majority of animals seem to have their brain or central nervous system located at a specific end of their body rather than near the center of mass where you think it'd be safest? I thought of this as I watched a centipede have its tail end attacked and noticed that its head and tail end look quite similar, assumedly for the purpose of fooling would be predators, and wondered why it didn't just put its brain in the middle so it wouldn't be vulnerable at the ends.

Moreover, why do we even need heads? Why did almost every animal evolve to have all their sensory organs in one spot instead of spreading them out. Why is my face where my face is basically. Are our bodies really built to be the most durable and efficient for the terrain they evolved in and why are they all so similar?

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[–] morphballganon 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

(Didn't see what community this is. I'm not a biologist, but I am reading a book on human anatomy at the moment)

For animals that stand, having the optical and auditory sensors up high (and relatively near the motor portion of the brain) would be advantageous for spotting predators and being able to send out commands to the muscles to escape quickly.

I don't know much about centipedes specifically, but it makes sense that the sensory organs and motor portion of the brain would be in a place that allows them to efficiently see what's in front of them, and decide which way to go.