The Headless Sea Urchin: A Unique Trait that Sheds Light on Animal Intelligence

The sea urchin born seems Nothing share with to be human. Mon ramp slowly below water. The other builds of the companies And transform her environment. Yetscience book many surprises. By analyzing their nervous system, biologists discover an unusual structure. However, it performs similar and sometimes very elaborate functions.

And if THE sea ​​urchins were more loved ones of us that we don't thought

The point common between a human and a sea ​​urchin born jump not to eyes. YetAt level geneticTHE parallel are more deep that he no appears. Basically, the sea urchin possessed a larva
endowed of a
symmetry bilateralsimilar to
that of
many vertebrates. This is not that after a metamorphosis that he adopted its shape adult in star, to symmetry
pentaradial.

This transformation plot
THE researchers of
there Station
Zoologica Anton
Dohrn in Naples.
They have studied of the sea ​​urchins All just metamorphosed. Their objective was of to understand how a
alone genome
could produce
two shapes
bodily Also
different.
In analyzing
the cells nervous has the scale individual, they have discovered that the
Genoa associates
at the head were
expressed throughout the body, SO that those of the trunk were confined to organs internal.
The sea urchin adult n / A SO neither head neither trunk sense strict, but a body entirely
cephalized
“. This
discovery has
summer relayed
by Gizmodo, who underlines that he is about of a true brain headless”, a
structure bodily surprisingly effective.

A perception of the world without eyes neither brain

The absence eyes and of brain don't empfishing not the sea urchin of perceive her environment. THE
researchers have
identified,
distributed on
all its
surface, cells photoreceptors
expressing several types of opsins. Some combine
of the proteins
as there
melanopsin and the Go-opsin,
capable of
detect different lengths
wave.

This diffuse sensitivity to light suggests that the sea urchin perceives light variations, without having visual organs. It could detect shadows, orient itself or adjust its behavior depending on the brightness. This type of eyeless perception challenges the way we define vision. The sea urchin has no pupils or retina, but it may see differently.

THE
systemth
nervous of the
sea ​​urchins hands over
in question the
definition even
of a brain

A long time considered as endowed with a simple trickle
nervousTHE
sea ​​urchins turn out
much more sophisticated. Their
fabrics neuronal group together
a surprising
diversity of cells. Some express of the Genoa specific
to echinoderms, others of the Genoa shared with the system nervous central of
vertebrates.

According to THE researchers this organization
neuronal shape
A system
integrated,
consistentcapable of functions sensory complex. The body of the sea urchin becomes Thus A organ nervous apart whole. Published in Science Advances, this study proposes
a new
way of
think intelligence animal. THE brain, a long time seen as a center, could Also exist below shape of a network distributed. And at the sea urchin, this intelligence
peripheral seems remarkably
GOOD organized.

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