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	Podcast:		Palaeocast
	Episode:		Episode 28: From worms to stars
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:35:23
	Publish Date:		2014-04-30 20:00:00
	Description:		Echinoderms are characterised by a mineralised skeleton, specialised water vascular system and five-fold symmetry. It is this unusual body plane symmetry that gives the starfish its star-shape. None of these features, however, are possessed by the closest living relatives of echinoderms – the hemichordates. Palaeontology offers a unique perspective into the early evolution of echinoderms, revealing that echinoderm characteristics were acquired in a step-wise fashion from a bilaterally symmetrical ancestor. We speak to Dr Imran Rahman, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol, about the early evolution of echinoderms, from worms to stars.
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