NxR's MacIver, Mugan, and Murphey publish discovery that vision led our fish-like ancestors to land, not limbs
In a new PNAS study, NxR's Malcolm MacIver, Ugurcan Mugan, and Todd Murphey show that eyes greatly increased in size just prior to vertebrates coming out of water to live on land, nearly 400 million years ago. The study has implications both for how and why our vertebrate ancestors came on to land, as well as for the evolution of complex cognitive abilities, as explained in this animation.
Select Additional Coverage:
The Atlantic: Fish Changed in a Surprising Way Before Invading Land
Quanta Magazine: Why Did Life Move to Land? For the View
The Conversation (Australia): The Eyes Have It: How Vision May Have Driven Fishes Onto Land