Invertebrate solutions for sensing gravity

We share a physical world with invertebrates, and as such we share the need to detect the effects of air and water currents, temperature, and gravity. Challenged by size and exhibiting tremendous evolutionary diversity, invertebrates exhibit some clever sensory solutions not available to us mammals. However, lessons learned from studies on invertebrate body senses also highlight convergent mechanisms for solving physical problems common to various taxa. Comparative research therefore holds value not just for more fully clarifying the diversity of solutions, but also for understanding how and why we humans arrived at our particular ones.