The cephalochordate genera Branchiostoma and Asymmetron diverged during the Mesozoic Era. In spite of the long separation of the parental clades, eggs of the Florida amphioxus, B. floridae, when ...

Vertebrates diverged from other chordates ~500 Myr ago and experienced successful innovations and adaptations, but the genomic basis underlying vertebrate origins are not fully understood. Here we ...

Those of you who took high school biology may remember the lancelet, also known as the amphioxus. Its simplified body plan is notable for containing a number of features that it shares in common with ...

Berkeley — The newly sequenced genome of a dainty, quill-like sea creature called a lancelet provides the best evidence yet that vertebrates evolved over the past 550 million years through a four-fold ...

Scientists once thought that humans must have two million genes to account for all our complexity. But since sequencing the human genome, we've learned humans only have about 19,000 to 25,000 genes - ...

A SPECIMEN of Branchiostoma lanceolatum (Pallas) was collected during the September 1953 cruise of the research vessel of the Sea Fisheries Research Station at a position at 32° 53′ 36″ N., 35° 1′ E., ...

The lowly lancelet makes a living by burying itself in the sand, sticking out its mouth, and filtering tiny critters from seawater. Such feeding behavior probably exposes this common marine ...

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in ...