From: invalide@invalid.invalid   
      
   https://le.ac.uk/news/2026/january/ancient-fossils-vertebrates-four-eyes   
      
   Remarkably preserved fossils show that the earliest   
   vertebrates could see the world using four camera-type   
   eyes, reshaping our understanding of how vision evolved.   
      
   A new study by an international team of researchers,   
   including a University of Leicester palaeontologist,   
   reveals that the earliest known vertebrates, living   
   more than 518 million years ago, possessed four eyes,   
   not two.   
   ...   
   The fossil vertebrates known as myllokunmingids, were   
   discovered in the famous Chengjiang fossil beds of   
   southern China. Careful microscopic and chemical   
   analyses revealed that these animals had two large   
   lateral eyes and two smaller, centrally positioned eyes.   
   All four eyes were similar to modern camera-type eyes.   
   ...   
   Today, vertebrates see mainly using two eyes. A   
   structure deep in the brain — the pineal gland — helps   
   regulate sleep by responding to light and producing   
   melatonin. In some fish, amphibians, and reptiles, it   
   can still detect light and is sometimes called a   
   ‘third eye’.   
      
   This new study shows that in the earliest vertebrates,   
   the pineal complex was not a simple light sensor — it   
   was a pair of well-developed eyes capable of imaging   
   the world.   
      
   Cong “What we’re seeing is that the pineal organs began   
   as image-forming eyes,” said.   
      
   “Only later in evolution did they shrink, lose visual   
   power, and take on their modern role in regulating sleep.”   
   ...   
   During the Cambrian period, the oceans were a dangerous   
   place. Large predators were emerging, while early   
   vertebrates were small, soft-bodied, and vulnerable.   
      
   Dr Jakob Vinther of the University of Bristol and one   
   of the team said: “In that environment having four eyes   
   may have given these animals a wider field of view —   
   important to avoid predators.”   
   ...   
      
      
   https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09966-0   
   January 2026   
   Four camera-type eyes in the earliest vertebrates   
   from the Cambrian Period   
      
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