It was soft, wormlike, lived more than 500 million years ago - and now scientists say the extinct animal was an ancient ancestor of modern vertebrates. Scientists have long been searching for ...

Early vertebrates eventually evolved a backbone made of true bone, providing more strength and protection. This change meant these animals could grow larger and move in new ways, exploring ...

Invertebrates are the bulk of terrestrial diversity and the backbone for proper ecosystem functioning. We need to start putting them at the centre of rewilding projects. Our results are just one ...

These protected animals share one thing in common: a backbone. But invertebrates in research labs, including worms and bees or cephalopods like squid and octopuses, do not receive the same ...

An extinct ribbonlike sea creature about the size of a human thumb was one of the earliest animals to evolve a precursor of a backbone. Scientists recently identified the animal’s nerve cord by ...

Myelin appears suddenly in vertebrates, animals with backbones that arose 500 million years ago. ... for example, when compared with invertebrates such as slugs, worms and starfish.

Vertebrates tend to be larger than invertebrates, thanks to their backbone, which allows their bodies to grow larger and move faster than many invertebrates. Source: Ellen Eisenbeis/Butterfly Pavilion ...

Invertebrates emerged first in the form of soft-bodied organisms, such as sponges, jellyfish, and worms over 600 million years ago. Vertebrates evolved after, during the Cambrian explosion about ...

Scientists have been debating the morphology of the 'Tully monster' since the discovery of its fossils in the 1950s. Now, a team at the University of Tokyo say it definitely did not have a backbone.

They might not have a spine, but invertebrates are the backbone of our ecosystems. Let's help them out Peter Contos, PhD Candidate, La Trobe University and Heloise Gibb, Professor, La Trobe University ...

All chordates, such as vertebrates, eel-like lancelets, and tunicates, or sea squirts, at some point in their lives have a flexible, rod-shaped nerve structure called a notochord in their backs. A ...