"Our findings suggest that elements of an ancestral gill developmental program were reutilized multiple ... "this work provides a new chapter to the evolution of the mammalian ear," Crump said.

To investigate the fish-gill-ear question, the researchers, led by Crump’s then graduate student Mathi Thiruppathy, did some clever genetic transfer experiments. First, they put the six human ...

had gill activity. This suggests that the very first elastic cartilage, similar to what is in our outer ears, may have first arisen in ancient marine invertebrates. “This work provides a new chapter ...

"Our findings suggest that elements of an ancestral gill developmental program were ... new chapter to the evolution of the mammalian ear," Crump said. Sascha is a U.K.-based staff writer at ...