July 8
One of the world’s strangest creatures has found its long-lost kin. Oxford University scientists have discovered that an extremely rare gutless worm is related to sea anemones and jellyfish, rather than similar-looking animals. The finding could cause an evolutionary rethink.
The worm, Buddenbrockia, has been seen only a handful of times since its discovery in 1851 and exactly where it fits in the animal kingdom has long puzzled scientists. ‘It has no mouth, no gut, no brain and no nerve cord,’ said Professor Peter Holland of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology who led the study. ‘It doesn’t have a left or right side or a top or bottom – we can’t even tell which end is the front!’
Seen in cross section it is completely symmetrical so no way is ‘up’ and no direction is ‘forward’.
Buddenbrockia is actually related to animals it looks nothing like, such as sea anemones and jellyfish. This means that the worm-like body shape evolved at least twice from two completely different kinds of animal.
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