DMXX
09-04-2014, 05:32 AM
Deep sea 'mushroom' may be new branch of life
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77361000/jpg/_77361003_77361002.jpg
A mushroom-shaped sea animal discovered off the Australian coast has defied classification in the tree of life.
A team of scientists at the University of Copenhagen says the tiny organism does not fit into any of the known subdivisions of the animal kingdom.
Such a situation has occurred only a handful of times in the last 100 years.
The organisms, which were originally collected in 1986, are described in the academic journal Plos One. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29054889
Pretty interesting. It'd be very exciting if it does end up being a "living fossil" from the Ediacaran period, which the article hints at. We'd have another coleacanth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelacanth)situation all over again, which certainly isn't bad news for the world of biology!
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77361000/jpg/_77361003_77361002.jpg
A mushroom-shaped sea animal discovered off the Australian coast has defied classification in the tree of life.
A team of scientists at the University of Copenhagen says the tiny organism does not fit into any of the known subdivisions of the animal kingdom.
Such a situation has occurred only a handful of times in the last 100 years.
The organisms, which were originally collected in 1986, are described in the academic journal Plos One. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29054889
Pretty interesting. It'd be very exciting if it does end up being a "living fossil" from the Ediacaran period, which the article hints at. We'd have another coleacanth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelacanth)situation all over again, which certainly isn't bad news for the world of biology!