Editing Colony (biology) (section)

=== Modular organisms ===
[[File:Marrus orthocanna.jpg|thumb| The pelagic ''[[Marrus orthocanna]]'' is a colonial [[siphonophore]] assembled from two types of [[zooid]]s]]
Modular organisms are those in which a genet (or genetic individual formed from a [[sexual reproduction|sexually-produced]] [[zygote]]) asexually reproduces to form genetically identical clones called [[ramet]]s.<ref name=Winston2010>{{cite journal|doi=10.1093/icb/icq146|title= Life in the Colonies: Learning the Alien Ways of Colonial Organisms|year=2010|last1=Winston|first1=J.|journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology|volume=50|issue=6|pages=919–933|pmid=21714171|doi-access=free}}</ref>

A '''[[clonal colony]]''' is when the ramets of a genet live in close proximity or are physically connected. Ramets may have all of the functions needed to survive on their own or be interdependent on other ramets. For example, some [[sea anemone]]s go through the process of pedal laceration in which a genetically identical individual is asexually produced from tissue broken off from the anemone's pedal disc. In plants, clonal colonies are created through the propagation of genetically identical individuals by [[stolon]]s or [[rhizome]]s.

'''Colonial organisms''' are [[clonal colonies]] composed of many physically connected, interdependent individuals. The subunits of colonial organisms can be unicellular, as in the alga ''[[Volvox]]'' (a [[Coenobium (morphology)|coenobium]]), or multicellular, as in the [[phylum]] [[Bryozoa]]. Colonial organisms may have been the first step toward [[multicellular organisms]].<ref>{{cite book | display-authors=1 | first1=Bruce | last1=Alberts | first2=Dennis | last2=Bray | first3=Julian | last3=Lewis | first4=Martin | last4=Raff | first5=Keith | last5=Roberts | first6=James D. | last6=Watson | title=Molecular Biology of the Cell | edition=3rd | location=New York | publisher=Garland Science | year=1994 | isbn=0-8153-1620-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/molecularbiology00albe | access-date=2014-06-11 | url-access=registration }}</ref> Individuals within a multicellular colonial organism may be called [[ramet]]s, [[Modularity (biology)|modules]], or [[zooid]]s. Structural and functional variation ([[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphism]]), when present, designates ramet responsibilities such as feeding, reproduction, and defense. To that end, being physically connected allows the colonial organism to distribute nutrients and energy obtained by feeding zooids throughout the colony. The [[hydrozoa]]n [[Portuguese man o' war]] is a classic example of a colonial organism, one of many in the taxonomic class.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Hydrozoa/|title=Hydrozoa|website=Animal Diversity Web|language=en|access-date=2017-05-06}}</ref>