![an awkward family reunion sea monsters are our cousins](https://utterbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/an-awkward-family-reunion-sea-monsters-are-our-cousins-640x360.jpg)
The sea lamprey, a 500-million-year-old animal with a sharp-toothed suction cup for a mouth, is the thing of nightmares. A new study discovered that the hindbrain — the part of the brain controlling vital functions like blood pressure and heart rate — of both sea lampreys and humans is built using an extraordinarily similar molecular and genetic toolkit.