They’re after brittle stars—marine animals with long, slender, serpent-like arms—to peek into the genes that give them distinct characteristics, including the power of regeneration. “This is a huge ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- We humans are fixated on big brains as a proxy for smarts. But headless animals called brittle stars have no brains at all and still manage to learn through experience, new research ...

(CN) — Paleontologists in Luxembourg recently identified a new species of brittle star — a sea-dwelling echinoderm similar in appearance to the starfish — that thrived during the Cretaceous period.