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Posted on 04/27/2008 6:07:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Earth's first animal was the ocean-drifting comb jelly, not the simple sponge, according to a new find that has shocked scientists who didn't imagine the earliest critter could be so complex... scientists analyzed massive volumes of genetic data to define the earliest splits at the base of the animal tree of life... The new study surprisingly found that the comb jelly was the first animal to diverge from the base of the tree, not the less complex sponge, which had previously been given the honor... Unlike sponges, comb jellies have connective tissues and a nervous system, and so are more complex. Though squishy and tentacled, they are not, however, true jellyfish as they lack the classic bell-shaped body and characteristic stinging cells. The finding was unexpected because evolutionary biologists had thought that less complex animals split off and evolved separately first... "evolution is not necessarily just a march towards increased complexity," Dunn said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I can imagine, and it was well worth your time as it turned out beautiful.
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LOL!
That looks like a space doily!
Crocheting in space?
Called a centrifuge Lol.
Heading to bed now.
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