Genetic research offers new perspective on the early evolution of animals

Some representatives of comb jellies - (a) Beroe ovata, (b) Euplokamis sp., (c) Nepheloctena sp., (d) Bathocyroe fosteri, (e) Mnemiopsis leidyi, and (f) Ocyropsis sp. © a, b, e, f: Joseph F. Ryan; c: R. Griswold, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; d: Marsh Youngbluth, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Mapping gene linkages provides clear-cut evidence for comb jellies as sibling group to all other animals A study published by University of Vienna and 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 years ago. For more than a century, scientists have been working to understand the pivotal moment when an ancient organism gave rise to the diverse array of animals in the world today. As technology and science have advanced, scientists have investigated two alternative hypotheses for which animals-sponges or comb jellies, also known as ctenophores-were most distantly related to all other animals. Identifying this outlier-known as the sibling group-has long eluded scientists.