We often think about animals as an insular group. However, as with any genetic grouping, animals do have close relatives. On the show today, we discuss choanoflagellates- considered the closest relatives to animals today, and possibly a good candidate for what the common ancestor of all animals would have looked like.
Sources for this episode: 1) Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. 2) The Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2021), Choanoflagellate (online) [Accessed 13/03/2021]. 3) Marshall, M., New Scientist (2009), Timeline: The evolution of life (online) [Accessed 13/03/2021]. 4) Holland, S. M., Encyclopaedia Britannica (2021), Ordovician Period (online) [Accessed 13/03/2021]. 5) Philippe, H., et al. (2009), Phylogenomics Revives Traditional Views on Deep Animal Relationships. Current Biology 19: 706- 712.