You behold a creature very similar to your own ancient, tiny ancestor

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A note for The Half-Lesson, "Your Brain Is Not for Thinking," in Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett.
Some context from page 2 is:

When you look at a modern amphioxus, you behold a creature very similar to your own ancient, tiny ancestor who roamed the same seas.

The appendix adds:

Scientists believe that our common ancestor with amphioxi resembled modern amphioxi very closely.

For many years, scientists believed that the common ancestor of amphioxus and vertebrates was an extinct, amphioxus-looking animal called Pikaia. Some scientists now suggest that another fossil animal, Cathaymyrus, might be closer to a vertebrate than an amphioxus.[1]

For more information amphioxus evolution and the debates therein, see these references.[1][2]


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Gee, Henry. 2018. Across the Bridge: Understanding the Origin of the Vertebrates. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  2. Striedter, Georg F., and R. Glenn Northcutt. 2020. Brains Through Time: A Natural History of Vertebrates. New York: Oxford University Press.