A microscopic and genomic analysis of the creature revealed that, unlike all other known animals, H. salminicola has no mitochondrial genome — the small but crucial portion of DNA stored in an animal’s mitochondria that includes genes responsible for respiration. Mitochondrial DNA is some of the most ancient DNA on planet earth and has been utilized in tracing Human migration. In fact, this is the only instance where mitochondrial DNA has not been located in a eukaryotic organism.