Determining which lineage of animals is most distantly related to humans is among the most important and heated disputes in evolutionary biology.
Using an integrative phylogenomic approach, new research in Science reveals unprecedented phylogenomic support for sponges as the sister lineage to all other animals.
Solving this puzzle is key to revealing the biology of the ancestors of all animals, including how they transitioned from single-celled to multicellular organisms and radiated to the dazzling diversity seen today.
Scientists typically decipher the evolutionary relationships between species with phylogenomics, which uses computer models of how sequences evolve to analyze large datasets of genes.
Steenwyk and King (1) unexpectedly refresh this phylogenomic inference approach by using only genes with strong and consistent phylogenetic signal for either of two major competing hypotheses.
This strategy reveals unprecedented phylogenomic support for sponges (phylum Porifera), filterfeeders lacking organized tissues, as the sister lineage to all other animals and may also have the potential to resolve other difficult phylogenetic problems.
Read more: https://scim.ag/4o1qizV
