The earliest dated example of bioluminescence in animals was believed to be roughly 267 million years ago in small marine crustaceans known for a mucus-filled synchronized mating dance called ostracods, until this new research turned back the clock.

The oldest DNA yet found is about 1 million years old and came from mammoth remains on Wrangel Island, where the animals held out until about 4,000 years ago. The oldest glowing octocorals were much, much more ancient, but at least now we have a new superlative age for such a remarkable trait of Earth’s denizens.

Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in a group of marine invertebrates called octocorals, according to the results of a new study from scientists with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

A group of scientists from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History used genetic data and statistical modelling to demonstrate that bioluminescence - the ability of living things to produce light through chemical reactions - first evolved in marine invertebrates called octocorals about 540 million years ago.