California: Scientists have discovered a mysterious new type of multicellular organism that provides new insights into the evolution of microscopic life forms and possibly the secrets of the earliest animals on Earth.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have uncovered secrets deep within Mono Lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada that may tell us more about the earliest days of animals 650 million years ago.
The research, presented in a paper published in the journal AmBio, focuses on the discovery of a new schwannoflagellate species that hosts the microbiome.
In fact, the presence of any living organisms in this lake is surprising despite the presence of arsenic and cyanide in the water. But the newly discovered organism is a choanoflagellate.
What exactly is a schwanoflagellate? Simply put, it is a single-celled life form that functions like an animal embryo as it divides into multicellular colonies.
Although not an animal, schwanoflagellate is the closest thing to an animal, and is studied as a model to represent early life forms millions of years ago.
The researchers believe the new discovery will provide insight into the relationship between animals and bacteria that first gave rise to the human microbiome.
