Trilobite “hyper-eyes” found according to ScienceDaily 30 September 2021, Science Alert 3 October 2021 and Scientific Reports 30 September 2021 doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98740-z.
Trilobite eyes have long been known for precision optics, and now one kind of trilobite has been found to have more complex eyes than previously thought. Trilobites of the suborder Phacopina have two eyes, each consisting of many lenses, similar to an insect compound eye, but the individual lens facets are not abutted up against one another like the usual compound eye. This seemed like a waste of space until researchers from Germany and Scotland took a closer look at x-rays of trilobite eyes originally taken in the 1970’s and also examined trilobite fossils with modern x-ray methods.
They reported: “Here, we show that these compound eyes are highly sophisticated systems—hyper-compound eyes hiding an individual compound eye below each of the big lenses. Thus, each of the phacopid compound eyes comprises several lenses, in cases even hundreds of small compound eye systems composing a single visual surface”.
This kind of eye is “unique in the animal realm” and the researchers suggest it was an evolutionary adaptation to life in low light conditions.
Links: Science Alert, ScienceDaily
Editorial Comment: The faith of evolutionists is truly amazing. A “highly sophisticated system” evolved because trilobites were bottom dwelling creatures living in low light conditions. If these eyes were a random ‘adaptation’ to low light conditions why is it not found in any other animals that live in low light conditions?
This is another example of evolutionists misusing the term “adaptation”. Adaptation is a real biological phenomenon – it is the ability of living things to cope with changes in the environment, such as changes in light levels, but it only works if the organism already has the means to change. No change in an environment has ever been observed to produce new structures that did not already exist. Eyes can cope with changes in light. You will have experienced this when you walk into a dimly room – initially it looks very dark, but your eyes quickly adapt to it and you can soon see clearly. However, no matter how much time you spend in the dark you will not develop any more eyes or change the structure you already have in your eyes. It’s time Attenborough, Dawkins and Nye stopped telling lies.
Adaptation is a built-in design feature that proves forward planning was involved, not chance randomness. So give the Creator Christ the praise for the brilliant design in living things that were made to live in a world where even before the Flood there were daily and seasonal changes to the environment.
Photo of Phacops trilobite by Dwergenpaartje. Reproduced under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA 3.0
Creation Research News 13 October 2021
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