On the surface, this looks like #cladistic nitpicking, but in reality it is a revolution in the tree of life. Because they lack neuromuscular cells, sponges were classically presented as the sister group to all metazoans. But the sister group could well be the ctenophores, which leads to two scenarios: either several independent evolutions of neuromuscular cells, or a deletion in the sponges.

#Biology #Evolution #Phylogeny #Ctenophore

📄 Schultz et al (2023) Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05936-6