Platelet cells, which prevent mammals from bleeding non-stop, first evolved around 300 million years ago in an egg-laying animal similar to the modern duck-billed platypus, finds joint research by UCL and Yale University.

Platypus [Credit: Klaus/Flickr]This event was a prerequisite for the origin of placental development in mammals, including human beings.

The paper, published as a peer-reviewed opinion piece in Biology Letters,…

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Source: archeo