<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/24/ancient-alien-brittle-stars-linked-to-relatives-across-the-globe-by-a-deep-sea-evolutionary-superhighway>
"A global study of deep sea creatures called brittle stars has linked
ecosystems on a “superhighway” reaching from southern Australia to the north
Atlantic, uncovering close evolutionary ties across oceans.
Researchers analysed DNA from 2,699 brittle star specimens collected from all
of the Earth’s oceans – from the equator to the poles, and the intertidal zone
to the abyss (more than 3,500 metres deep) – and housed in 48 museums across
the globe.
The unique dataset revealed connections stretching tens of thousands of
kilometres, such as 17 species of brittle stars from Tasmania that have close
relatives near Iceland, in the North Atlantic.
“You might think of the deep sea as remote and isolated, but for many animals
on the seafloor it’s actually a connected superhighway,” said Dr Tim O’Hara,
senior curator of marine invertebrates at Museums Victoria Research Institute
and lead author of the study published in
Nature."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
