Starfish don’t have bodies.

Question

Along with other echinoderms (think sea urchins and sand dollars), their entire bodies are technically classed as heads. 

Comments

I can see how the body of the starfish is actually the head, and using a website that has researchers who are from Stanford shows the research gone into the hypothesis. This does leave to wonder that they technically still have bodies, they have just evolved differently. The second to las paragraph also says that their bodies have evolved in more complex ways. So maybe they are heads, but they could also still be bodies.

Answer 1

According to multiple scientists who did their own research and testing, this statement is true. The Smithsonian Magazine states that after new genetic research, it is seen that starfish are missing the genes that are associated with the torso. However, they did find genetic expressions that correspond to head development in an animal called the acorn worm. That gene was found all over the starfish's body, especially in the center of each "arm." Multiple credible sources state the same information and were all published by reliable authors within the same year, deeming this claim to be not only true but viable as well.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-starfish-body-is-just-one-giant-head-study-finds-180983192/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/starfish-are-heads-just-heads/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2400256-starfish-dont-have-a-body-theyre-just-a-big-squished-head/

Comments

I agree with the information you found based on the reliability of the sources that you mentioned and your clarity when explaining this phenomenon. Good work explaining how because of the genes starfish are missing, they technically aren't anything other than a head.