Contact: Harold Zakon
h.zakon@mail.texas.edu
512-471-0194
University of Texas at Austin

Choanoflagellate: Monosiga brevicollis

Caption: University of Texas at Austin researchers discovered the genes for sodium channels that occur in animal neurons in the single-celled choanoflagellate, Monosiga brevicollis, showing that the sodium channels evolved before neurons.

Credit: Mark J. Dayel, University of California, Berkeley.

Usage Restrictions: Creative Commons. Credit: Mark Dayel.

Related news release: Sodium channels evolved before animals' nervous systems, research shows