“Missing Link” Found in the Evolution of the Eye
Professor Shaun Collin of the University of Queenland’s School of Biomedical Sciences, working with colleagues, have found the missing link in evolutionary science that has plagued Darwin’s theory since its inception - the evolutionary leap from eyes that can distinguish light from dark to those that see clear, colorful pictures like our own.
Professor Collins said, “Charles Darwin wasn’t able to reconcile the evolution of the eye given its complexities and diversity of eye designs.” Now, this is no longer the case, as they have identified animals that successfully bridge that evolutionary gap.
“So it was a major surprise for us that we have found what appears to be a clear progression from a simple eye to a complex eye, which occurred over a relatively short period (30 million years) in evolutionary history,” said Professor Collins.
The missing link was found among fish, particularly a species known as the hagfish. According to Collins, “This animal diverged from our own line somewhere around 530 million years ago.
“Hagfish are simple, eel-shaped jawless and ugly animals, that inhabit the oceans at great depth, and that are renowned for the revolting ‘slime’ they exude when disturbed.
“They behave as if blind, though they have a primitive eye-like structure beneath an opaque eye-patch on either side of the head. Previously it had widely been thought that the hagfish eye had degenerated from a lamprey-like precursor.
“But our research suggests hagfish did not degenerate from lamprey-like ancestors, but are instead the remnants of an earlier sister group.”
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