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Fossilised Embryos - 500 Million Years Old
January 12, 2004Evidence from fossilised embryos of worm-like creatures that lived 500 million years ago shows that embryos developed then in much the same way as their living relatives do today. The implications of this remarkable discovery, reported in this week's issue of Nature, is that embryological processes that occur today must have been established very early on in the evolution of animals.
Because embryos are composed of tissues that decay away to nothing in an instant they are very rarely preserved in the fossil record. But Dr Phil Donoghue from the Department of Earth Sciences at Bristol University and his Chinese colleagues, sifted through 6,000 kg of rock from China to find just 100 exquisitely preserved embryos that are less than half a millimetre in length. They believe that the adult form of these embryonic 'Markuelia' were fairly large worm-like creatures with a mouth at one end, surrounded by a series of spines. They lived in the sea during the Cambrian, when animal life was just emerging.
The 'tree of life' is the single evolutionary 'tree' that links all plants, animals and microbes. When constructing the tree, one of the key questions that scientists are trying to answer is how the branches are connected to one another - how one animal is related to another - and what changes occurred to the growth of embryos that allowed those branching events to happen. But until now, despite the widespread availability of genetic data, almost everything that is understood about the evolutionary relationships between animals was based upon the classical approach of comparing the embryonic development of their living representatives.
These fossil embryos have enabled the team to determine that they represent creatures that are early relatives of both Arthropods (insects, lobsters, trilobites, etc) AND nematodes (parasitic worms that live in our guts, in soil, beer mats and everywhere else). Understanding this indicates that the changes in embryological processes that underlie animal evolution must have occurred long before these fossils were living 500 million years ago, and even before the earliest fossil remains of any animals that have been found in the geological record.
Ironically, it appears that the embryology of these fossils may now be better understood than their living counterparts which have not been studied very closely. The possibility of being able to describe the life-cycle of a creature that lived 500 million years ago is no longer in the realms of fantasy.
Bristol, University of
Evolution Current Events and Evolution News RSSResearch in twins defines shared features of the human gut microbial communities: variations linked to obesity
Trillions of microbes make their home in the gut, where they help to break down and extract energy and nutrients from the food we eat. Yet, scientists have understood little about how this distinctive mix of microbes varies from one individual to the next.
Hubble captures outstanding views of mammoth stars
Two of our Galaxy's most massive stars have been scrutinised in an impressive view by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. They have, until recently, been shrouded in mystery, but the new image shows them in greater detail than ever before.
Synthetic virus supports a bat origin for SARS
SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome - alarmed the world five years ago as the first global pandemic of the 21st century. The coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that sickened more than 8,000 people - and killed nearly 800 of them - may have originated in bats, but the actual animal source is not known.
Researchers identify new leprosy bacterium
A new species of bacterium that causes leprosy has been identified through intensive genetic analysis of a pair of lethal infections, a research team reports in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.
Ocean growing more acidic faster than once thought
University of Chicago scientists have documented that the ocean is growing more acidic faster than previously thought. In addition, they have found that the increasing acidity correlates with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Panamanian termite goes ballistic: Fastest mandible strike in the world
A single hit on the head by the termite Termes panamensis (Snyder), which possesses the fastest mandible strike ever recorded, is sufficient to kill a would-be nest invader, report Marc Seid and Jeremy Niven, post-doctoral fellows at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Rudolf Scheffrahn from the University of Florida.
Researchers Shed Light on Evolution of Gene Regulation
Scientists at Penn State have shed light on some of the processes that regulate genes -- such as the processes that ensure that proteins are produced at the correct time, place, and amount in an organism -- and they also have shed light on the evolution of the DNA regions that regulate genes.
Beta Pictoris planet finally imaged?
A team of French astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have discovered an object located very close to the star Beta Pictoris, and which apparently lies inside its disc.
Understanding Europe's topography
Europe's shape is in a constant change: The Mediterranean basin is shrinking, the Alps are rising and pushing North, and Scandinavia is still rebounding after having been crushed by the weight of a thick and huge ice sheet in the ice ages. But what did Europe look like in the past, what are the processes controlling all these changes and what has the future in store for us? And how does the topography influence the climate of Europe on geological time scales?
Two From One-Pitt Research Maps Out Evolution of Genders From Hermaphroditic Ancestors
Research from the University of Pittsburgh published in the Nov. 20 edition of "Heredity" could finally provide evidence of the first stages of the evolution of separate sexes, a theory that holds that males and females developed from hermaphroditic ancestors.
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