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Asked by jngeh to Brachiopod on 7 Dec 2017.
Question: Have you got any particular features that give you an evolutionary advantage?
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Terebratulina Retusa answered on 7 Dec 2017:
Stability! One of the weirdest things about me is that I’ve not changed my appearance in hundreds of millions of years. Everything else is busy evolving away- I just sit there. That is the reason I should be sequenced.
An odd evolutionary advantage I think you’ll agree, the ability to do nothing.
Comments
Common starfish commented on :
Starfish have mutable collagenous tissue (MCT), which enables them to keep their body rigid for long periods of time (e.g. when feeding on mussels) without using muscle power and without using lots of energy. In fact all echinoderms (sea urchins, sea cucumbers etc) have MCT and this may be one of reasons why echinoderms have survived as a phylum on earth for over half a billion years.
Abyssal Grenadier commented on :
We can survive under high water pressure. At the moment, we know that we store a lot of an enzyme called TMAO, which helps to keep our cells happy and stop them from being crushed by the pressure.
Abyssal Grenadier commented on :
We have many special adaptations! The most incredible is that we live under such extreme water pressure that our cells have adapted to this to stop them from being crushed. We also don’t get a lot of food in the deep sea so we have developed a special whip-like tail that lets us move without using too much energy and we can store energy in our livers that can be up to 1/3 of our bodies! Furthermore there is no natural light at abyssal depths so we have adapted to using our noses instead of our eyes for finding food.
Snake Pipefish commented on :
I can breed in the open ocean and my offspring develop faster than those of other species, so they grow up quickly and mature and are ready to breed in no time. Under favourable conditions our population numbers can explode… Basically we can take over the Atlantic ocean .