Starfish have lengthy been presumed to haven't any heads - however new analysis suggests they might actually be nothing however.

Their distinctive form has lengthy puzzled scientists, with their our bodies incomparable to most animals.

They are from a bunch known as echinoderms, which additionally consists of sea urchins and sand {dollars}.

Their our bodies are divided symmetrically into 5 sections, and till now it had been "impossible" to see how these chunks associated to the our bodies of different animals.

Front or again, head or backside - even consultants had been stumped.

Dr Jeff Thompson, from the University of Southampton, stated the make-up of echinoderms "has been a mystery to scientists for as long as we've been studying them".

In a bid for readability, a world crew led by researchers at Stanford University within the US in contrast the starfish's molecular markers to different members of a wider animal group known as deuterostomes.

This options vertebrates in addition to echinoderms, however all of them share a typical ancestor, permitting the scientists to instantly examine their growth.

Using superior molecular and genomic strategies, they created a 3D map displaying the place particular genes had been expressed throughout a starfish's growth.

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Big crawling head, it is only a large crawling head

Dr Thompson, co-author of the examine, stated a "crucial part" of a standard bilateral physique was lacking.

"The genes typically involved in the patterning of the trunk of the animal weren't expressed," he stated.

"It seems the whole echinoderm body plan is roughly equivalent to the head in other groups of animals."

The findings counsel that relatively than being headless, starfish have simply shed their ancestor's our bodies over time to finally grow to be solely heads.

Lead writer Laurent Formery, from Stanford, stated it is "best described as a head crawling along the seafloor".

The peer-reviewed examine has been revealed within the journal Nature.