Deep-sea creatures from Iceland to Tasmania are more closely related than anybody realised.
- Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Museums Victoria Research Institute
Sonar scans of the Indian Ocean floor south of Christmas Island have revealed a Tolkeinesque landscape of towering peaks, ashen uplands and ominous volcanic craters.
Ophiojura, discovered living on a seamount deep in the Pacific Ocean, is the last known survivor of a unique group of animals that diverged from its closest relatives way back in the Jurassic period.
It’s quite hard to tell when a sea creature is extinct – there’s always hope it will turn up somewhere.
Surveying the bottom of the ocean turns out to be far from easy. But there was something wonderful about seeing animals we have only read about in old books.
D’étranges organismes au chapeau gélatineux ont été découverts dans des fonds marins au large de l’Australie. Les scientifiques ont mené l’enquête. Surprise, surprise !
What scientists first thought was an ancient species that had survived undiscovered for many millions of years, turns out to be part of something equally mysterious.
As warmer seas move further south, tropical wildlife is going with them, giving us a dramatic insight into how global warming is changing our oceans.
A complete tree of life – showing how and when organisms are related to each other – has long been desired by biologists, but obscured by the vagaries of the fossil record. Now, next-generation gene sequencing…
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