First glowing animals lit up the oceans half a billion years ago

A bioluminescent octocoral, Iridogorgia magnispiralis.Credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Deepwater Wonders of Wake Some 540 million years ago, an ancient group of corals developed the ability to make its own light1. Scientists have previously found that bioluminescence is an ancient trait — with one group of tiny crustaceans first making their own … Read more