Simplest multicell organism (or one of...)

[Martin]

http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/mysterious_trichoplax/

 

see picture

 

very little specialization---only four different types of cells

 

no head, no tail, no recognizable shape, no nervous system of course, not even a gut or stomach.

 

it eats algae slime.

 

the early multicell organisms that you and I decended from may have been like this

 

the cells stick together and co-operate in a crude sense, like a leaderless mob of people

 

they gradually move across a surface, like a small patch, grazing the algae.

 

some mornings I feel like a Trichoplax

 

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does anyone know of a simpler, even less sophisticated, multicell animal?

[Mokele]

The link isn't working for me.

[Martin]

http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/mysterious_trichoplax/'>http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/mysterious_trichoplax/

 

strange, Mokele

I just tried it and it worked

 

can you get the regular blog?

 

http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/

 

this article is still probably near the top of the pile

[Mokele]

I think it must've been something wrong with the lab computer, since all links work fine now.

[Skye]

It's the simplest animal known. That simplicity mightn't mean that it is more primitive than some other animals, such as sponges, though. That's the million dollar question now. Here's the article,

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/112149116/PDFSTART