The earliest known vertebrates had four eyes

Earliest a known vertebrate saw the world with four eyes, not just two.

Another pair of eyes was found when a group of paleontologists studied fossils dated to about 518 million years ago. They belonged to the Myllokunmingia genus.

Fossils had been found Chengjiang Fossil Area stratification in South China. The eyes had been preserved amazingly well.

“We first studied the large eyes because we wanted to understand their anatomy. It was a complete surprise when we found two smaller eyes between the eyes,” says the Yunnan University professor Peiyun Cong In a University of Leicester bulletin.

Professor Cong led the research, which was published science journal Nature.

Smaller the pair of eyes researchers initially thought was a cartilage capsule of the nose.

Microscope and chemical studies revealed that they too were eyes.

Using an electron microscope, melanosomes were found in all four. They are small parts of the cell that contain melanin.

Melanin is a pigment that determines, for example, eye color. It also absorbs light.

The circular structures referred to the lenses of the eyes.

All four eyes were similar to modern eyes, called camera eyes. They could form images.

THE EARLY vertebrates benefited from extra eyes in their dangerous environment.

During the Cambrian period, 539–485 million years ago, life in the Sea developed rapidly. Different animal species developed new structures and senses relatively quickly.

Great beasts appeared in the sea. The first vertebrates, on the other hand, were small and soft.

“Four eyes gave them a wider field of vision. It helped them avoid predators,” says a participant in the study Jakob Winther from the University of Bristol.

Today most vertebrates have only two eyes. However, the remains of the second pair of eyes have been preserved.

Some fish, amphibians and reptiles still have a so-called head eye. It doesn’t look like a familiar eye, but it senses light.

Humans and other mammals have a pineal gland deep in the middle part of the brain. It regulates sleep according to the light. The gland secretes melatonin, which helps you fall asleep.

According to Cong, it appears that the structures are the reverse of the eyes that formed the images.

“Only later did the eyes atrophy, lose their vision, and became sleep regulators.”