390 million year old trilobite or trilobite fossils reveal some amazing secrets about marine arthropods. They have different eyes, unlike most animals. Scientists estimate they have hundreds of eyes.
In plain view, they have two eyes like animals in general. But these two eyes are actually a large system made up of hundreds of individual lenses that all make up hundreds of mini eyes of their own.
Behind each lens is a series of facets anchored by photoreceptors and a network of nerve cells, capturing light from each lens before sending it down the central optic nerve to the brain. This system creates what is assumed to be the animal's unique way of seeing the world.
Quoted from IFL Science, the research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, analyzed a series of X-ray photos taken from well-preserved fossils in the 1970s.
The photos, taken by amateur radiologist and paleontologist Wilhelm Stürmer, show clear filaments under the eyes and suggest that these are nerves and that this specific trilobite has a series of sub-facets or small areas of photoreceptors that make up the compound eyes like micro hexagons that form a compound eye. we can see in the eyes of flies.
These subfacets under each eye contribute to the overall structure. Scientists at the time rejected this interpretation. But now 40 years later, modern technology allows scientists to realize that Stürmer's opinion was right.
The fossil belongs to the suborder of trilobites, called Phacopinae. If the other trilobites had eyes similar to those of modern flies (the hexagonal faces form large compound eyes, and under each facet are eight photoreceptors that capture light), this suborder is different. Each compound eye contains 200 lenses, spread out further than any other compound eye example, and under each are six subfaces.
"Each of these eyes is made up of about 200 lenses measuring up to 1 mm in diameter," said lead researcher and zoologist Dr Brigitte Schoenemann, in a statement.
"Under each of these lenses, in turn, at least 6 facets are arranged, each of which again together form a small compound eye. So we have about 200 compound eyes (one under each lens) in one eye," he explained. .
These all give the animal a hyper eye, which allows Phacopinae to have a distinct advantage over other animals. Their many lenses and complex eye systems allow them to capture small changes in brightness in low light conditions.
This makes it easier for them to hunt prey or hide from larger predators. It is also possible that some areas of the hyper eye have different functions, such as visual contrast enhancement.
Unfortunately, Stürmer died in the 1980s. He didn't get to receive the validation he deserved because of his findings highlighting the unique structure of the eye, 40 years before anyone else could.
