Lampreys are the stuff of nightmares, complete with long, slimy bodies; circular mouths filled with teeth; and parasitic tendencies. But lampreys are also vertebrates, which means they have backbones and share a common ancestor with humans — and new research is revealing that we have more in common with these slippery bloodsuckers than scientists previously thought.
Lampreys belong to an ancient vertebrate lineage known as Agnatha, or jawless fish. Previous research suggests that lampreys and their relatives represent the most primitive group of vertebrates still in existence, having evolved an estimated 360 million years ago. These living fossils can give us a window into how some of our distant ancestors likely evolved.
