The humble trilobites, helmeted creatures that swam in the oceans hundreds of millions of years ago, hide an extraordinary secret – “hyper eyes” never seen before in the animal kingdom.
By contemplating x-ray Researchers found that a certain species of trilobite — an extinct arthropod closely related to the horseshoe crab — had “compound eyes,” complete with hundreds of lenses, their own neural network for processing and transmitting signals, and multiple optic nerves, according to a new study. published September 30 in the Journal Scientific report.
Related: Why did the trilobites go extinct?
Today’s arthropods, such as dragonflies and mantis shrimp, are also known for their powerful compound eyes, which consist of many facets, called ommatidia, each equipped with its own lens, like a disco ball.
But according to new knowledge, trilobites come from the family Phacops had compound eyes that were much larger and more complex than their current arthropod relatives. Each of their eyes (they have one on the left and one on the right) holds hundreds of lenses. With a diameter of almost a millimeter, this primary lens is a thousand times larger than a typical arthropod. Beneath it, like a light bulb in a car headlight, are six (or more) faceted substructures, similar to the characteristic compound eyes, located. “Each of the large phacopid eyes is a hypercomplex eye with up to 200 compound eyes each,” said Brigitte Schoenemann, head of the study, a paleontologist at the University of Cologne, in an email to Live Science.
Trilobites are living beings that have lived since the beginning Cambrian (521 million years ago) to the end of the Permian (252 million years ago) on the ocean floor. Some may be predators that hunt water worms, although most are scavengers or plankton eaters. Remains are often found in limestone cliffs dating from the Cambrian. But despite their presence in the fossil record, scientists still have questions about their physiology and evolutionary history.