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What’s Earth’s oldest animal? DNA study crowns new winner

Cosmos Magazine - Wed 24 May 23

The search by researchers to uncover the ‘first’ animal – the ancestor for all other animals –  has taken a new turn. A new study says comb jellies are more likely to be the ...

Q&A: Researcher discusses a new model of nervous system form, function, and evolution

Phys.org - Mon 22 May 23

How does animal behavior emerge from networks of connected neurons? How are these incredible nervous systems and behaviors actually generated by evolution? Are there principles shared by all ...

Palm-Sized Sea Creature Named the World's Oldest Animal

Discover Magazine - Sun 21 May 23

Much older than the dinosaurs, the understated comb jelly has been around longer than any other living lineage.

Why our brain uses up more energy than that of any other animal

Newscientist - Fri 19 May 23

Our brain's high energy demands, particularly in certain key areas, may have enabled us to evolve uniquely advanced cognitive traits

Comb jellies, not sponges, might be the oldest animal group after all

Newscientist - Wed 17 May 23

An argument that has been raging among biologists for over a decade – whether comb jellies or sponges were the first group to split off from the common ancestor of all animals – has a new ...

Chromosomal comparisons reveal comb jellies as the sister group to all other animals

Nature News - Wed 17 May 23

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2023; doi:10.1038/d41586-023-00807-6Analyses of chromosome organization across diverse animals and non-animals provide evidence that a group ...

Ancient gene linkages support ctenophores as sister to other animals

Nature News - Wed 17 May 23

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2023; doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05936-6Deeply conserved syntenic characters unite sponges with bilaterians, cnidarians, and placozoans in a monophyletic ...

Comb jelly ancestor may have been first animal to branch from tree of life

Science - Wed 17 May 23

Evidence from gene clusters is the strongest yet that these animals, not sponges, are the “sister to all living animals”

Genetic research sheds light on what the earliest animals looked like

Phys.org - Wed 17 May 23

For more than a century, biologists have wondered what the earliest animals were like when they first arose in the ancient oceans more than half a billion years ago.

What did the earliest animals look like?, Science Blog - Thu 18 May 23

These ancient, jelly-like creatures may have evolved a different type of nervous system

ZME Science - Fri 19 May 23

Neurons shouldn't fuse together -- or so we thought.

Comb Jellies May Be the World's Oldest Animal Group

Smithsonian Magazine - Thu 18 May 23

A new study suggests that ancestors of comb jellies, not sponges, were the first to break off from the common ancestor of all animals

We Might Finally Know What The Very First Animals Looked Like

ScienceAlert - Thu 18 May 23

Evolution isn't straightforward.

New animal family tree places us closer to weird disk-shaped organisms

Ars Technica - Wed 17 May 23

Enlarge / These complex creatures seem to be the earliest branch of the animal tree. We're more closely related to sponges than we are to them. (credit: Getty Images) Ask ...

Animal Evolution Clues Drawn From Genome Sequencing, Phylogenetic Study

GenomeWeb - Wed 17 May 23

A study in Nature suggests the ctenophore group containing comb jellies is a sister group to animals that split off earlier than sponges.

Scientists confirm 700-million-year-old ctenophores oldest living animal on Earth

Daily Mail - Wed 17 May 23

The oldest living animal, a jellyfish-like creature, branched off the earliest creatures on Earth 700 million years ago - and it is still live in our oceans and can be seen in aquariums worldwide.

The Closest Living Relative of the First Animal Has Finally Been Found

Scientific American - Wed 17 May 23

A debate has been settled over the earliest animal ancestor—a free-swimming creature with a well-developed nervous system

Alien-like comb jellies have a nervous system like nothing ever seen before

Livescience - Mon 15 May 23

Strange sea creatures called ctenophores have a fused nerve net where scientists expected to see synapses. Did they evolve their nervous system separately from ...

New research hints that comb jelly may be Earth's oldest animal

CBSNews - Fri 19 May 23

Though they resemble jellyfish, comb jellies are distinctly different creatures.

What Did the Earliest Animals Look Like? Chromosomal Clues Unearth the Origins of Animal Evolution

SciTechDaily - Thu 18 May 23

Chromosome analysis resolves debate about sister group of all animals. It’s comb jellies, not sponges. Researchers used a novel chromosome-based approach to reveal that comb...

What did the earliest animals look like?

ScienceDaily - Wed 17 May 23

Surprisingly, genome comparisons have failed to resolve a major question in animal evolution: Which living animals are the descendants of the earliest animals to evolve in the world's oceans? ...

What did the earliest animals look like?, Scienmag - Wed 17 May 23
What did the earliest animals look like?, Eurekalert - Wed 17 May 23

Genetic research offers new perspective on the early evolution of animals

Scienmag - Wed 17 May 23

A study published by MBARI researchers and their collaborators today in Nature provides new insights about one of the earliest points in animal evolution that happened more than 700 million ...

Genetic research offers new perspective on the early evolution of animals, Eurekalert - Wed 17 May 23
Genetic research offers new perspective on the early evolution of animals, Eurekalert - Wed 17 May 23

700 Million-Year-Old Family Feud Settled: Genetic Linkages Illuminate Earliest Animal Evolution

SciTechDaily - Wed 17 May 23

Mapping gene linkages provides clear-cut evidence for comb jellies as sibling group to all other animals. A groundbreaking study published in Nature by MBARI researchers...

The jellyfish with a nervous system that is causing a shiver in the scientific community

The Hindu - Fri 12 May 23

Researchers have found a unique architecture in comb jellies – nerve-net neurons interconnected via a continuous plasma membrane, without synapses.

The marine organism with a surprising wiring of neurons

The Hindu - Thu 11 May 23

The unique features of comb jellies, too small to even cause ripples as they swim, are creating shockwaves in the scientific community.