Sectionales

Sectionales is a hypothetical order of multicellular invertebrates used in speculative biology and science fiction to illustrate modular, segmented body plans. It is not an officially recognized taxon in real-world biology, but it serves as a thought experiment for discussing how division into distinct sections can influence development, locomotion, and ecology.

The name Sectionales derives from the Latin sectio, meaning cut or division, with the taxonomic suffix -ales indicating a formal grouping in imagined systems. In the speculative framework, Sectionales comprises several families and a range of life histories, emphasizing modularity over a single, uniform form.

Morphology commonly described for Sectionales includes a body divided into multiple flat, plate-like sections connected by flexible joints. Each section may bear sensory structures and limited locomotory apparatus, allowing both coordinated movement and localized independent function. Some imagined species form colonies in which individual sections can detach, migrate, or reattach, creating dynamic morphologies.

Habitat and distribution in the fictional account cover temperate coastal reefs, freshwater wetlands, and humid terrestrial leaf litter, reflecting a broad tolerance for moisture and stratified environments. Ecologically, Sectionales are portrayed as both filter- or micro-predator feeders and as potential pioneers of modular growth, capable of rapid expansion through budding of new sections or through the integration of previously independent modules.

In speculative taxonomy, major lineages within Sectionales are often named Sectionidae and Partitionidae, with representative genera such as Sectiona or Segmentus. Although fictional, Sectionales is used to explore how segmentation can shape function and evolution. See also modularity, segmentation in biology, speculative biology.