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Gli spermatozoi più antichi del mondo sono stati individuati dal ricercatore Benjamin Bomfleur, del museo svedese di Storia naturale. La traccia risale a 50 milioni di anni fa ed è stata prodotta da un verme sconosciuto.
La scoperta, pubblicata su Nature, è stata effettuata analizzando con il microscopio elettronico delle piccole sfere raccolte da una spedizione argentina sull'isola Seymour nella penisola Antartica. Il materiale rilevato è un resto fossile di piccoli bozzoli nei quali gli scienziati hanno trovato resti di sperma ancora perfettamente conservato con delle caratteristiche fisiche che ricordano molto quelle di alcuni vermi moderni.
Nonostante non siano presenti tracce di DNA, la novità offre delle informazioni utili per ricostruire l'evoluzione di questa famiglia di animali, anche semplicemente attraverso lo studio delle cellule.
ATS/se
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