Veerle's blog

This seems hard to believe, but it’s true… Scientists have discovered one of mankind’s closest relatives, among those that lack a backbone, in the shape of a rare 3cm worm called Xenoturbella (could be a nice name for your HD btw? :-)). If you are a fisher, be sure to handle the worm with kindness or maybe choose another bait since these creatures are in some way our far ancestors :-P

It appears the slug-like creature found living at the bottom of a Swedish lake shares its ancestry with people. It does not have a brain or even sex organs and scientists are baffled about how the Xenoturbella procreates.

However, researchers at Cambridge University are convinced it shares DNA with humans.The Xenoturbella was originally thought to be related to bivalve molluscs, such as mussels and oysters. Dr Max Telford, from Cambridge University, who led the British and Danish team, said: “We found this hard to believe as it looks nothing like a bivalve mollusc. “We have now been able to show that, amongst all of the invertebrates that exist, Xenoturbella is one of our very closest relatives. “It is fascinating to think that whatever long-dead animal this simple worm evolved from, so did we.”