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| Newly-discovered mushroom-shaped animals 'unclassifiable' in current tree of life | Newly-discovered mushroom-shaped animals 'unclassifiable' in current tree of life |
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| Scientists have discovered mushroom-shaped alien-like creatures dredged from the depths of the sea strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania. | |
| The two species were called Dendrogramma, after researchers found that they could not be categorised in any existing phylum – large families of living things. | |
| They are made up of an outer skin and inner stomach separated by a thick layer of jelly-like substance, and were caught at depths of 400-1,000 metres off the eastern area of the Bass Strait during a 1986 cruise. | They are made up of an outer skin and inner stomach separated by a thick layer of jelly-like substance, and were caught at depths of 400-1,000 metres off the eastern area of the Bass Strait during a 1986 cruise. |
| Danish Lead Scientist Dr Jorgen Oleson, from the University of Copenhagen, said: “New mushroom-shaped animals from the deep sea have been discovered which could not be placed in any recognised group of animals. | Danish Lead Scientist Dr Jorgen Oleson, from the University of Copenhagen, said: “New mushroom-shaped animals from the deep sea have been discovered which could not be placed in any recognised group of animals. |
| “Two species are recognised and current evidence suggest that they represent an early branch on the tree of life, with similarities to the 600 million-year-old extinct Ediacara fauna.” | “Two species are recognised and current evidence suggest that they represent an early branch on the tree of life, with similarities to the 600 million-year-old extinct Ediacara fauna.” |
| The species have now been named Dendrogramma enigmatica and Dendrogramma discoides, with all of the team’s research detailed in a paper in the journal Public Library of Science ONE. | The species have now been named Dendrogramma enigmatica and Dendrogramma discoides, with all of the team’s research detailed in a paper in the journal Public Library of Science ONE. |
| Their discovery could totally reshape the animal family tree, the National Geographic has said, with the creatures a contender for one of its earliest branches. | Their discovery could totally reshape the animal family tree, the National Geographic has said, with the creatures a contender for one of its earliest branches. |
| Leonid Moroz, a Neurobiologist at the University of Florida, said the new species could “rewrite whole textbooks in zoology.” | Leonid Moroz, a Neurobiologist at the University of Florida, said the new species could “rewrite whole textbooks in zoology.” |
| The team is now expected to look for other examples of the mushroom-like animals. | The team is now expected to look for other examples of the mushroom-like animals. |