Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Oldest known animal sex chromosome evolved in octopuses 380 million years ago

Result reveals for the first time how some cephalopods determine sex.
  1. Carissa Wong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Researchers have found the oldest known sex chromosome in animals — the octopus Z chromosome — which first evolved in an ancient ancestor of octopuses around 380 million years ago. The findings1 answer a long-standing question about how sexual development is directed in the group of sea creatures that includes octopuses and squid.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00637-0

Updates & Corrections

  • Clarification 25 March 2024: Not all researchers agree on what was the oldest known animal sex chromosome prior to this study. The article has been updated to clarify this.

References

  1. Coffing., G. C. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.21.581452 (2024).

  2. Albertin, C. B. et al. Nature 524, 220–224 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Kuhl, H. et al. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 376, 20200089 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Han, W. et al. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 1891–1906 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links