Ctenophores Develop Nervous System Independently LIKE A BOSS

From Science:

"Biologists have long assumed that the neuron—with its axon, synapses, long processes called dendrites, and a suite of nerve-specific proteins—is the epitome of a specialized cell and thus likely to have evolved only once in the history of life. But a newly sequenced genome of a comb jelly...threatens to upend this view."

     This is what I’m talking about! I was exposed to ctenophores as an undergrad, but honestly before then I had no idea they existed.  Unfortunately it’s been my experience that the general public is still unaware of these nematocyst-less bad boys, instead focusing on their more painful relatives, cnidarians.  Well not any more.  Comb Jellys are coming out in full force, and it's about damn time.  Look at Pleurobrachia bachei playing it cool all these millions of years, munching on copepods and occasionally giving us a trance-lightshow in the water column.  Who would’ve guessed it was holding back this absolute game changer of a genome. If life was a game of poker, we just got shown up by Matt “comb-jelly” Damon flopping a nut straight while we were busy splashing the pot and eating oreos.  

Source
Look at it, just thinking about it Vegas and the fuckin' Mirage

      But seriously, a truly interesting notion that, should it prove to be accurate, represents an enormous implication for the development of life both on this planet and potentially elsewhere.  The nervous system is considered such a specialized and complex structure that many believe its evolution could only have occurred once.  Well, much like the development of segmentation, this crucial event in the history of life may have happened multiple times.  If indeed this is the case, it suggests that similar significant events may not be as rare as we originally thought. 

Which means Jeff Goldblum was right.  Fuck

References:

Dordel, J., Fisse, F., Purschke, G. and Struck, T. H. (2010). "Phylogenetic position of Sipuncula derived from multi-gene and phylogenomic data and its implication for the evolution of segmentation." Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 48: 197–207. 

Moroz, LL. (2009). "On the independent origin of complex brains and neurons" Brain Behav Evol: 74 (3): 177-190.