Genome-scale data and the development of novel statistical phylogenetic approaches have
greatly aided the reconstruction of a broad sketch of the tree of life and resolved many of its …

Evolving multicellularity is easy, especially in phototrophs and osmotrophs whose multicells
feed like unicells. Evolving animals was much harder and unique; probably only one …

A central question in evolutionary biology is whether sponges or ctenophores (comb jellies)
are the sister group to all other animals. These alternative phylogenetic hypotheses imply …

Resolving the early diversification of animal lineages has proven difficult, even using
genome-scale datasets. Several phylogenomic studies have supported the classical …

A hallmark of metazoan evolution is the emergence of genomic mechanisms that implement
cell-type-specific functions. However, the evolution of metazoan cell types and their …

Resolving the relationships between the major lineages in the animal tree of life is
necessary to understand the origin and evolution of key animal traits. Sponges …

Ctenophora, comprising approximately 200 described species, is an important lineage for
understanding metazoan evolution and is of great ecological and economic importance …

Understanding how complex traits, such as epithelia, nervous systems, muscles, or guts,
originated depends on a well-supported hypothesis about the phylogenetic relationships …

Next generation sequencing transformed the field of evolutionary biology and high
throughput sequencing platforms are routinely used in phylogenomic, population genomic …

The genomes of non-bilaterian metazoans are key to understanding the molecular basis of
early animal evolution. However, a full comprehension of how animal-specific traits, such as …