A new publication in the journal Nature has called into question a long-held hypothesis about the last common ancestor of animals. A group of single-celled (or colonial) protists called choanoflagellates are the closest living relatives of animals. Choanoflagellate cells have a whip-like flagellum surrounded by a basket-like structure that they use to capture and eat bacteria floating in sea water. Interestingly, these cells look and function very similar to feeding cells of sponges, one of the earliest-branching groups of animals. […]
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