Oldest arthropod brain found

Adam Khor

http://news.yahoo.com/oldest-arthropod-brain-found-buglike-creature-171118492.html

Capt'n Midnight

wow :eek:

520 ma ago - that's gotta debunk the Cambian explosion even more

I'll have to check out velvet worm brains

So they were brainier than we thought all that way back, still probably dumb as a brick compared to todays animals but still brains have running costs so there must be some advantage in being able to process information about your environment better than your siblings

is surprisingly complex for its 520-million-year age
...
This complex, insectlike brain suggests that rather than insects arising from simple branchiopods, today's arthropods descend from a complex-brained ancestor. Branchiopods would later have shed some of this complexity, Strausfeld said, while other crustaceans and insects kept it. In fact, he said, the brain may have evolved to segment into three parts very early on; mammals, including humans, have a forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain, suggesting a common organization.

"Lots of people don't like that idea, sharing a brain with a beetle, but there's good evidence suggesting that you do," Strausfeld said.

greenpilot

Adam Khor wrote: »

http://news.yahoo.com/oldest-arthropod-brain-found-buglike-creature-171118492.html

Let's see the young earth gang swallow this one....

Galvasean

Ah, was just debunking the Cambrian 'explosion' to someone the other day. I'll use this as an example the next time someone asks.

Rubecula

If it was that complex that long ago.... well where and when did it start?

How far back does life actually go? Will we ever know for certain?

Capt'n Midnight

molecular clock ?

you could base it on when aerobic respiration became common

but then again you don't need to have a fast metabolism if no one else does, diffusion still allows you to be multicelluar as long as you are flat

Humbert Humbert

Hey, that reminds me of that men who tried to find the common ancestor to all animals that taste like chicken and estimate when the chicken flavour evolved.