Cell types are the basic building blocks of multicellular organisms and are extensively
diversified in animals. Despite recent advances in characterizing cell types, classification …

Over 600 million years ago, animals evolved from a unicellular or colonial organism whose
cell (s) captured bacteria with a collar complex, a flagellum surrounded by a microvillar …

The first animals evolved from an unknown single-celled ancestor in the Precambrian
period. Recently, the identification and characterization of the genomic and cellular traits of …

The evolutionary origin of metazoan cell types such as neurons and muscles is not known.
Using whole-body single-cell RNA sequencing in a sponge, an animal without nervous …

The puzzle of how complex nervous systems emerged remains unsolved. Comparative
studies of neurodevelopment in cnidarians and bilaterians suggest that this process began …

Collective cell contractions that generate global tissue deformations are a signature feature
of animal movement and morphogenesis. However, the origin of collective contractility in …

A widely held—but rarely tested—hypothesis for the origin of animals is that they evolved
from a unicellular ancestor, with an apical cilium surrounded by a microvillar collar, that …

How to make a neuron, a synapse, and a neural circuit? Is there only one 'design'for a
neural architecture with a universally shared genomic blueprint across species? The brief …

Highlights•Solving nervous system evolution requires cross-species comparison of neuronal
types.•Neuronal types are commonly defined by their specific structure and function.•We …

Placozoans, together with sponges, are the only animals devoid of a nervous system and
muscles, yet both respond to sensory stimulation in a coordinated manner. How behavioral …