An ancient receptor family illuminates the evolution of animal sensation
Maxwell C. Coyle, John K. Nunnally, Yeun-Hyeok Shin, Yu. A. Trofimov, Irina I. Veretenenko, Jack Thibodeau, Irina A. Talyzina, Riya Sivakumar, Roman G. Efremov, Jon Clardy, Alexander I. Sobolevsky, Nicholas W. Bellono
This study identifies an ancient sensory receptor family in choanoflagellates that detects bacterial prey, revealing ancestral features of animal sensation before multicellularity.
bioRxiv · Jun 15, 2026 · PreprintEvolutionary Biology