Chinese Academy of Sciences Recently, the research group led by Prof. YU Ziniu from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences sequenced the first complete Natuilus genome and unveiled the evolutionary features underlying the pinhole eye formation and biomineralization. This study was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on May 10. Nautilus is the only surviving externally shelled cephalopod since the Palaeozoic. They have preserved many ancestral features despite a long evolutionary history, such as a chambered shell and pinhole eye. The researchers sequenced the complete genome of N. pompilius, which is the most widespread species among nautiluses. The genome was 730.58 (Mb) in size and encoded 17,170 protein-coding genes, presenting a most compact, simple and slow-evolving genome when compared to other coleoid cephalopods.