The Evolution of the Neural Cortex in the Sharpe Ribbed Newt

In 2015, breakthroughs in single cell RNA sequencing made it possible to use the technique on an order of magnitude more cells in a sample. Toscaz and her colleagues published their first results comparing neuron cell types in turtles and lizards to those in mice and humans. The difference in gene expression suggested that the reptilian DVR and the mammalian neocortex evolved independently from different regions of the brain.