This article aims to show that the previously accepted notion of how animal organization came to be—from simple to complex—may not be all that true. There are many forms of evidence that refute that claim of organization. Fossils play a large role in constructing animal arrangement. This scientific article is specifically aimed at sponges and ctenophores due to the lack of knowledge we really have surrounding them. Mainly, our lack of information about these nonbilaterians is because of the heavy focus scientists had on studying Bilateria, specifically, and the ease with which scientists were able to determine shared traits between the two groups, as opposed to traits only found in nonbilaterians. It is necessary to learn more about these nonbilaterians so they can advance our knowledge of animal organization and clear up confusion. For as long as evolution has been a reality, traits have been gained and lost; even before the Cambrian explosion, complex organisms existed. There is no determination of whether one organism is more complex than another—there is no scale or ratings of complexity. Something as ‘simple’ as a sponge really is not as simple as people may think. The main point made in this article is that we need to steer clear of the original model of animal organization created that placed simple, or primitive, species first and they led to the evolution of more complex traits within species.
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