The article recounts a journey to Rio Cuarto, Argentina, in search of Salinella, a tiny and rare worm described by German zoologist Johannes Frenzel. Salinella is unique not just for its rarity but because it represents the simplest living animal, dating back to early animal evolution. The piece highlights the contrast between vertebrates and invertebrates, stressing the importance of studying invertebrates like worms to understand evolutionary history. In particular, investigating Salinella offers insights into the beginnings of the animal kingdom and our biological ancestry.
But the invertebrates, and most especially the many kinds of worms, would be planes, submarines, unicycles, hot air balloons, space hoppers, jetpacks and roller skates.
According to Frenzel, Salinella is the oldest and simplest of all living animals. The sole survivor of an ancient staging post on the road leading from amoebas and algae to earthworms, butterflies and humans.
To study Salinella's simple body, its genes and its true relationship to other animals, would be to step through a portal to a time 600m years ago when animals were first inventing themselves.
The particular worm we were looking for may be the least known animal ever recorded. A 19th-century German zoologist called Johannes Frenzel is the only person ever to have seen it.
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