Tag: sponges
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Sponge vs. Comb Jelly: First Animal Debate Ongoing
Background: Who Is At the Root of the Animal Tree? The question of which lineage marks the origin of animals has long tugged at evolutionary biology. Two candidates dominate the discussion: Porifera (sponges) and Ctenophora (comb jellies). A recent study from UC, mirroring a shift in how scientists interpret ancient genetic data, reaches a different…
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Sponge vs. Comb Jelly: The Ongoing First Animal Debate Rocks Evolutionary Biology
Intro: A heated debate about the earliest animal lineages Biologists who study the deep roots of the animal family tree are once again at the center of a scientific controversy. A recent UC-based study has reached conclusions that oppose a study published just two years earlier, rekindling the long-standing debate over which organisms truly rooted…
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Nitrogen Run-off and Marine Sponges: Tolerance and Troubled species
New Insights into How Nitrogen Run-off Affects Marine Sponges Researchers from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington have taken a close look at how elevated nitrogen levels, primarily from agricultural run-off, could influence marine sponges. The study examined seven sponge species from two geographic regions—three species along Wellington’s coast in New Zealand and four from…
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Nitrogen Runoff and Marine Sponges: Tolerance and Risks
New study investigates nitrogen run-off and sponge health A recent study led by researchers from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington explores how nitrogen fertilizer run-off could affect marine sponges. Published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, the research tested seven sponge species—three from Wellington, New Zealand, and four from Lough Hyne,…
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Ancient Signal Confirms What The Very First Animals Truly Looked Like
What the Question Was For decades, scientists have debated what the very first animals looked like. While fossils from soft-bodied organisms are rare, genetic analyses have pointed in two directions: either today’s demosponges (sponges) represent the closest living relatives of the first animals, or comb jellies (ctenophores) might fill that role. New research led by…
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Sea Sponges: Earth’s First Animals Revealed by MIT Study
Sea Sponges: Earth’s First Animals – What the New MIT Findings Suggest A team of MIT geochemists has sparked renewed debate about the origins of animal life by presenting evidence from some of the planet’s oldest rocks. In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers argue…