  Many real networks have been found to have a rich degree of symmetry, which
is a very important structural property of complex network, yet has been rarely
studied so far. And where does symmetry comes from has not been explained. To
explore the mechanism underlying symmetry of the networks, we studied
statistics of certain local symmetric motifs, such as symmetric bicliques and
generalized symmetric bicliques, which contribute to local symmetry of
networks. We found that symmetry of complex networks is a consequence of
similar linkage pattern, which means that nodes with similar degree tend to
share similar linkage targets. A improved version of BA model integrating
similar linkage pattern successfully reproduces the symmetry of real networks,
indicating that similar linkage pattern is the underlying ingredient that
responsible for the emergence of the symmetry in complex networks.
