Elizabeth Murray
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It's a long way from Amphioxus!

3/5/2017

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Have you heard of 'The Amphioxus Song'? The song is an ode to the lowly lancelet (another name for this organism). Amphioxi are heralded due to their similarity to early chordates, exhibiting characters showing evolutionary development to the vertebrates.
I had thus far been sadly unaware of the Amphioxus song, written nearly one hundred years ago and still popular with evolutionary biologists.
​Background information on the song can be found at Joe Felsenstein's site.
​

Amphioxi 
  • are similar to 'primitive' chordates -- adults have a notochord instead of a backbone.
  • are an old group -- chordates similar to Amphioxi originated >500 million years ago.
  • are marine animals that burrow in the sand and use oral cirri (tentacles) to feed.
  • breathe through their skin, and most are rather small at under 7-8 cm long.
Picture
my portrayal of Amphioxus
Picture
earliest lyrics, from Joe Felsenstein at http://evolution.genetics.washington.edu/amphioxus/amphi1921.html

A Nature blog from 2008 highlights the Amphioxus song and also gives links for a series of posts on "Songs About Science", some of which are at least somewhat entertaining. As far as science songs go, I'd also recommend the Cane Toad Blues from the documentary 'Cane Toads: An Unnatural History'.
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Elizabeth A. Murray, ​PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION of Hymenoptera

@PhyloSolving  |  e.murray @ wsu.edu
  • home
  • research
    • phylogenomics in Aculeata
    • bee viruses
    • eucharitid ant parasitoids
  • publications
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