Nature, Vol. 618, Issue 7963, Pages 110-117, 2023

PMID: 37198475

A central question in evolutionary biology is whether sponges or ctenophores are the sister group to all other animals, with implications for the evolution of neural systems. Traditional phylogenetic methods, including morphological and gene sequence analysis, have not resolved this debate. Using chromosome-scale gene linkage (synteny), this study presents new genomes for ctenophores, sponges, and unicellular animal relatives. The analysis shows that ctenophores share ancestral syntenic patterns with unicellular eukaryotes, while sponges, bilaterians, and cnidarians share derived chromosomal rearrangements. These findings provide a new framework for resolving deep, recalcitrant phylogenetic problems and have implications for our understanding of animal evolution.

Read More