Acorn worm genome reveals gill origins of human pharynx
Sunday, November 22, 2015 - 05:19
in Biology & Nature
The acorn worm Saccoglossus kowalevskii is common in brackish, shallow water on the Atlantic coast. Its newly sequenced genome is telling biologists about the genes responsible for pharyngeal gills The newly sequenced genomes of two marine worms are shedding light on the 570 million-year evolution of gills into the pharynx that today gives humans the ability to bite, chew, swallow and speak.