Tag Archives | phylogenetics

Placing comb jellies, such as these, as the relative to all animals changes our view of how complex features evolved. Image Credit: Tracie Hall, Flickr

Debate over Earliest Animal Relative Raises Questions of How Complexity Evolved

A new study published this October in Nature Ecology and Evolution closed a chapter on a decade-long debate in biology and raises questions about how we view the evolution of complex animal traits. Since 2008, biologists have argued whether sponges or comb jellies, marine jelly-like animals also called ctenophores (pronounced: TEEN-oh-fores), are the earliest relative…

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