Bioluminescence in marine life dates back 540 million years, winding back the clock by a staggering 300 million years against earlier estimates, a new study finds.
"We often think that the deep sea is light-limited, and this is true in terms of sunlight, but many organisms in the deep sea produce their own light through a simple chemical reaction known as bioluminescence," study author Andrea Quattrini, curator of corals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, told Live Science in an email.
