Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago

Bioluminescence is the ability of living things to produce light via chemical reactions

An iridogorgia magnispiralis — a deep sea octocoral known to be bioluminescent. Picture: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research/PA Wire

Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago, new research suggests.

The study, which focused on an ancient group of marine invertebrates called octocorals, that includes soft corals, pushes back the previous oldest dated example of the trait by nearly 300 million years.