Fossil captures starfish splitting itself in two – showing this has been happening for 155 million years

By Aaron W. Hunter, Science Guide & Visiting Researcher, Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

One of the wildest wonders of nature is the ability of some animals to reproduce by splitting in half. There is still so much we don’t know about this process. So the discovery of a 155-million-year-old starfish fossil frozen partway through this process, published in a new study, could give scientists incredible new insights.

Our planet is teeming with invertebrates that, to our human eyes, may seem alien in the way they live and reproduce.

The starfish, or asteroid, is part of…

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