Scientists find out which of the metazoans has the smallest known genome

Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - 12:00 in Paleontology & Archaeology

"Orthonectida is a group of parasitic creatures that was discovered long ago—in 1877. However, their position in the animal system until recently remained a mystery," said George Slyusarev, Professor at St Petersburg University and Doctor of Biology. "Initially, they were considered extremely primitive animals that occupy an intermediate position between Protozoans and Metazoans. Hence, their old name is 'mesozoa': from the Greek 'meso'—(between) animals and protists. However, when we began to research them, they turned out to be not that simple."

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