This Is the Oldest Living Creature and It Emerged 700 Million Years Ago, New Study Says
Image credit: Alexander Semenov
The common ancestor of all animals was probably a soft-bodied creature that lived in the ocean about 600 or 700 million years ago. It did not leave any fossils behind, but by studying its living descendants, we can learn more about what it was like and how it gave rise to the amazing diversity of life we see today.
The study also revealed that ctenophores are very different from other animals in terms of their genes and their biology. For example, they have a unique way of developing from an egg to an adult, and they have a nervous system that is unlike any other animal’s. They also have genes that are not found in any other animal group, suggesting that they have evolved some novel features independently.
Comb jellies have many different species and they are all amazing, as testified by this video by MBARI.
The common ancestor of all animals was probably a soft-bodied creature that lived in the ocean about 600 or 700 million years ago. It did not leave any fossils behind, but by studying its living descendants, we can learn more about what it was like and how it gave rise to the amazing diversity of life we see today.
The study also revealed that ctenophores are very different from other animals in terms of their genes and their biology. For example, they have a unique way of developing from an egg to an adult, and they have a nervous system that is unlike any other animal’s. They also have genes that are not found in any other animal group, suggesting that they have evolved some novel features independently.
Comb jellies have many different species and they are all amazing, as testified by this video by MBARI.
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13 August 2023
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