Molecular studies of tunicate development show that genetic programmes for early embryonic patterning can change radically during evolution, without completely disrupting the basic chordate body plan.

The Middle Cambrian chordate known as Pikaia gracilens was once thought to be humanity’s earliest known ancestor, and the earliest known member of the phylum Chordata. Now, a new study flips this ...

Despite much investigation, the origin of the phylum Chordata, which contains all vertebrates including ourselves, remains unclear. The central nervous system (CNS) could hold the answers. So solving ...

A new study led by researchers of the University of Barcelona and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, proves once more that evolution ...

The planktonic organism <em>Oikopleura dioica</em>, an animal model in the study of evolution and embryonic development in our phylum (chordates), has lost most of ...

Life began on earth more than 3.5 billion years ago, but the history of humans and other vertebrates accounts for only a fraction of this timescale. Chordates (a group that includes vertebrates) and ...