The evolution of the eye (debunked), Part 2: Taking complexity for granted

Hello everyone and welcome back to Part 2 of this series.

One of the things that always gets ignored when discussing evolution from a "simple" eye, to a "complex" eye, is how hellishly complex the supposedly simple one actually is. This is all taken for granted.

This means that the evolutionary analysis starts at a point where most of the hard work has already been done. In this video, we will look at how complicated a "simple" eye actually is, and what the implications of this are for the evolutionary narrative.

References
1. Zhao, F., Bottjer, D. J., Hu, S., Yin, Z. & Zhu, M. Complexity and diversity of eyes in Early Cambrian ecosystems. Sci. Rep. 3, 1–6 (2013).
2. Ma, X., Hou, X., Edgecombe, G. D. & Strausfeld, N. J. Complex brain and optic lobes in an early Cambrian arthropod. Nature 490, 258–261 (2012).
3. Zhang, X. G. & Pratt, B. R. The first stalk-eyed phosphatocopine crustacean from the lower Cambrian of China. Curr. Biol. 22, 2149–2154 (2012).
4. Castellani, C. et al. Exceptionally well-preserved isolated eyes from Cambrian ‘Orsten’ fossil assemblages of Sweden. Palaeontology 55, 553–566 (2012).
5. Shu, D. G. et al. Lower Cambrian vertebrates from south China. Nature 402, 42–46 (1999).

Licenses
CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/