Fresh Fossil Evidence Of Eye Forerunner Uncovered

(January 2, 2008)

Ancient armored fish fossils from Australia present some of the first definite fossil evidence
of a forerunner to the human eye. Researchers analyzed the fossilized remains of 400-million-
year-old Devonian placoderms -- jawed ancestors of modern fish whose bodies were protected
by thick bony armor.

Palaeobiologists discovered that unlike all living vertebrate animals -- which includes everything
from the jawless lamprey fish to humans -- placoderms had a different arrangement of muscles
and nerves supporting the eyeball -- evidence of an "intermediate stage" between the evolution
of jawless and jawed vertebrates. ... > full story

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080101193317.htm