Study Traces Human Eyes to 600-Million-Year-Old Single Organ, Upending Evolution Theory
Updated
Updated · thereport.live · Jul 27
Study Traces Human Eyes to 600-Million-Year-Old Single Organ, Upending Evolution Theory
3 articles · Updated · thereport.live · Jul 27
Summary
A new study argues vertebrate eyes did not arise as a fresh pair but evolved from a single light-sensitive organ in a tiny marine ancestor about 600 million years ago.
Researchers from Lund University and the University of Sussex say that worm-like animal likely lost two primitive eyes as a mostly stationary filter-feeder, leaving a central organ that sensed light and orientation.
As its descendants became more active swimmers, evolution appears to have repurposed that median organ into the paired, image-forming eyes of vertebrates rather than building a new visual system.
The work also helps explain why vertebrate eyes grow from brain tissue—unlike insect and squid eyes from skin—and suggests the human pineal gland is a surviving remnant of that ancient structure.