Echinoderms are a phylum of exclusively marine deuterostome invertebrates characterized by pentaradial symmetry in adults, a calcareous endoskeleton composed of ossicles, and a unique water vascular system that operates tube feet for locomotion, feeding, and gas exchange. Major classes include Asteroidea (sea stars), Echinoidea (sea urchins, sand dollars), Holothuroidea (sea cucumbers), Ophiuroidea (brittle stars), and Crinoidea (feather stars). They exhibit mutable collagenous tissues enabling rapid changes in body stiffness, and possess high regenerative capacity. Echinoderms are key model systems in developmental and evolutionary biology, particularly for studying deuterostome embryogenesis and larval–adult body plan transitions.
Nearly every morning when she was a doctoral student in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Nicole Nakata, Ph.D. '23 (biology), would cross the street from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB) in Charleston, ...
Ecology
Oct 2, 2026
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Scientists have discovered several 518-million-year-old fossils that reshape understanding of the origins of the animal group containing starfish. The fossils show that these animals ate using tentacles rather than passively ...
Evolution
Sep 16, 2026
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The reproductive life of sea cucumbers has come under the microscope as University of the Sunshine Coast researchers battle overfishing of the marine creatures. Sea cucumbers—which can spawn by wobbling their heads and ejecting ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 19, 2026
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A new Stanford-led study offers the clearest picture yet of how some ocean life survived our planet's biggest mass extinction while most animals did not. About 252 million years ago, 96% of marine species and 70% of land ...
Evolution
Jul 10, 2026
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Biologists have long puzzled over how organs develop into their final shapes, and the nearly transparent bodies of young sea stars may offer a unique window into the organ development process.
Evolution
Jul 6, 2026
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Before the oldest dinosaur, before animals or even plants had expanded onto dry land, ancient relatives of starfish called crinoids, resembling stalked sea flowers, were among the first creatures to flourish in Earth's earliest ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 6, 2026
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Australia is home to some of the world's most beautiful reefs. This includes the lush Great Southern Reef, which wraps around Australia's southern coastline, and the world-renowned Great Barrier Reef.
Ecology
Jul 1, 2026
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Echinoderms, such as starfish, sea urchins and sea lilies, use small, flexible, tubular projections called "tube feet" for locomotion, feeding, respiration and sensory perception. Crinoids, a subgroup of echinoderms, are ...
At first glance, bat sea stars, the nubbly, orange, many-footed creatures often found on the seafloor, seem about as far from humans as one can get. Appearances can be deceiving, however. Scientists have found evidence showing ...
Evolution
Jun 23, 2026
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10
From the revived corpse of Frankenstein's monster to the disembodied hand, "Thing," in the Addams Family, reanimated tissue is one of the most enduring images in science fiction. It turns out, that image has some basis in ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 27, 2026
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