Earliest Camera Eyes in the Fossil Record
The earliest known camera-type eyes in the fossil record belong to trilobites, an extinct group of marine arthropods. Trilobites first appeared in the Early Cambrian period, supposedly over 500 million years ago. Their eyes were compound eyes, consisting of many small lenses, which is a different structure from the camera-type eyes seen in cephalopods and vertebrates. Camera-type eyes, similar to those in modern cephalopods and vertebrates, are claimed to have evolved independently in different lineages through convergent evolution. The earliest known camera-type eyes in the fossil record are found in some ancient cephalopods from the Ordovician period, which dates back supposedly approximately 485 to 443 million years ago.
Nectocaris pteryx camera eyes
Nectocaris pteryx, an extinct soft-bodied species from the Middle Cambrian period, possessed camera-type eyes similar to those found in modern cephalopods like squids and nautiluses. The unusually preserved eyes of Nectocaris are known as camera-type eyes, comparable to the eyes of extant cephalopods. Nectocaris had a pair of stalked camera eyes, rather than compound eyes.
Martin R. Smith (2010): A nektobenthic lifestyle can be inferred from the presence of latero-ventral eyes and flexible,muscular lateral fins; the large gills; and the absence of either limbs or a muscular the cephalopods to behomologous to the nectocaridid character combination: an axial cavity containing paired gills (the mantle cavity of extant cephalopods); stalked, camera-type eyes posterior to cephalic tentacles and anterior to a distinct, funnel-bearing neck; and lateral fins with obliquely-intersecting connective tissues. 1
1. Smith, M.R., & Caron, J.B. (2010). Primitive soft-bodied cephalopods from the Cambrian. Nature, 465, 469-472. Link. (This paper describes the discovery of fossilized soft-bodied cephalopods from the Cambrian period, providing insights into the early evolution of this group of mollusks.)
https://evolutionnews.org/2022/09/fossil-friday-nectocaris-the-impossible-squid/
https://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/fossils/nectocaris-pteryx/
The earliest known camera-type eyes in the fossil record belong to trilobites, an extinct group of marine arthropods. Trilobites first appeared in the Early Cambrian period, supposedly over 500 million years ago. Their eyes were compound eyes, consisting of many small lenses, which is a different structure from the camera-type eyes seen in cephalopods and vertebrates. Camera-type eyes, similar to those in modern cephalopods and vertebrates, are claimed to have evolved independently in different lineages through convergent evolution. The earliest known camera-type eyes in the fossil record are found in some ancient cephalopods from the Ordovician period, which dates back supposedly approximately 485 to 443 million years ago.
Nectocaris pteryx camera eyes
Nectocaris pteryx, an extinct soft-bodied species from the Middle Cambrian period, possessed camera-type eyes similar to those found in modern cephalopods like squids and nautiluses. The unusually preserved eyes of Nectocaris are known as camera-type eyes, comparable to the eyes of extant cephalopods. Nectocaris had a pair of stalked camera eyes, rather than compound eyes.
Martin R. Smith (2010): A nektobenthic lifestyle can be inferred from the presence of latero-ventral eyes and flexible,muscular lateral fins; the large gills; and the absence of either limbs or a muscular the cephalopods to behomologous to the nectocaridid character combination: an axial cavity containing paired gills (the mantle cavity of extant cephalopods); stalked, camera-type eyes posterior to cephalic tentacles and anterior to a distinct, funnel-bearing neck; and lateral fins with obliquely-intersecting connective tissues. 1
1. Smith, M.R., & Caron, J.B. (2010). Primitive soft-bodied cephalopods from the Cambrian. Nature, 465, 469-472. Link. (This paper describes the discovery of fossilized soft-bodied cephalopods from the Cambrian period, providing insights into the early evolution of this group of mollusks.)
https://evolutionnews.org/2022/09/fossil-friday-nectocaris-the-impossible-squid/
https://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/fossils/nectocaris-pteryx/
