Modern optics in exceptionally preserved eyes of Early Cambrian arthropods from Australia

Michael S. Y. Lee (), James B. Jago, Diego C. García-Bellido, Gregory D. Edgecombe, James G. Gehling and John R. Paterson ()
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Michael S. Y. Lee: South Australian Museum, North Terrace
James B. Jago: South Australian Museum, North Terrace
Diego C. García-Bellido: Instituto de Geología Económica/Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC-UCM), José Antonio Novais 2
Gregory D. Edgecombe: The Natural History Museum
James G. Gehling: South Australian Museum, North Terrace
John R. Paterson: School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England

Nature, 2011, vol. 474, issue 7353, 631-634

Abstract: The eyes had it: complex vision in early arthropods Charles Darwin thought that the eye, which he called an “organ of extreme perfection”, was a serious challenge to evolutionary theory — but he was mistaken. Theory predicts that eyes can evolve with great speed, and now there is support for this prediction from the fossil record. Well-preserved fossils found in Early Cambrian shales from South Australia show that some of the earliest arthropods known had eyes very like those of some insects alive today, consisting of more than 3,000 individual lenses (ommatidia), with a zone of enlarged lenses generating binocular forward vision. The identity of the eye-bearing animal is unknown, but it was probably a large arthropod predator adapted for living in low light.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10097

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