The bamboo octocoral Isidella sp. displaying bioluminescence in the Bahamas in 2009 (IMAGE)
Caption
The bamboo octocoral Isidella sp. displaying bioluminescence in the Bahamas in 2009.
Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in a group of marine invertebrates called octocorals, according to the results of a new study from scientists with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The results, published today, April 23, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, push back the previous record for the luminous trait’s oldest dated emergence in animals by nearly 300 million years, and could one day help scientists decode why the ability to produce light evolved in the first place.
Bioluminescence—the ability of living things to produce light via chemical reactions—has independently evolved at least 94 times in nature and is involved in a huge range of behaviors including camouflage, courtship, communication and hunting. Until now, the earliest dated origin of bioluminescence in animals was thought to be around 267 million years ago in small marine crustaceans called ostracods. But for a trait that is literally illuminating, bioluminescence’s origins have remained shadowy.
Credit
Sönke Johnsen
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