Researchers have elucidated the evolutionary origins of placodes and neural crests, which are defining features of vertebrates, through lineage tracing and genetic analysis in Ciona intestinalis, a ...

Learn how increased protein diversity in signaling genes may have helped drive the shift from invertebrates to vertebrates, reshaping how animals with a spine evolved. From frogs and fish to birds and ...

Some of the great remaining mysteries in zoology concern origins — of multicellularity, complex nervous systems, life cycles and sex, for example. The evolutionary origin of vertebrates is among the ...

Octopuses are a famous example for invertebrates. Source: Maël BALLAND/Pexels In a recent article, published in Animal Sentience (the flagship journal for animal consciousness) by Heather Browning and ...