Starfish and the Unexpected Outcomes of Evolution

With five arms, no clear front or back, and no obvious head, starfish break many of the rules we expect animals to follow. So how did such unusual symmetry evolve - and what happened to the head?

In this fascinating lecture, marine biologist Chris Lowe, Professor of Biology at Stanford University and researcher at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey, explores a surprising discovery: starfish may actually be built almost entirely from the genetic program that forms the head in other animals.

By studying the genes that shape animal bodies during development, Lowe reveals how evolution transformed a typical bilateral animal into one of the ocean’s strangest creatures - and why starfish might be, genetically speaking, almost all head.