Palm-Sized Sea Creature Named the World's Oldest Animal

Much older than the dinosaurs, the understated comb jelly has been around longer than any other living lineage.

By Matt Hrodey
May 17, 2023 8:30 PMMay 17, 2023 8:37 PM
Comb jelly
A California sea gooseberry, a type of comb jelly. (Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

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Scientists have long thought the humble sea sponge, an animal that feeds by filtering water through itself, forms the oldest group of animals on earth. But a new study claims that the comb jelly phylum is in fact older and carries genetic material from distant, non-animal ancestors.

Comb jellies, which look like miniature jellyfishes, use rows of cilia hairs to swim through the ocean and catch prey with tentacles that release a sticky, mucous-like substance. Like other animals, they meet the standard of having developed from a fertilized egg into a multicellular organism.

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