Animal genomes follow irreversible 'evolutionary highways' across thousands of species

Phys.org reports that despite their stark differences, humans, octopuses and corals all retain recognizable fragments of a genome passed down from an animal ancestor that lived more than six hundred million years ago. Over that span, their chromosomes have undergone countless fusions, splits and rearrangements, yet the ancient genetic signatures persist across the thousands of animal genomes now sequenced.

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